Daniil Medvedev: I feel zero pleasure being on the court
Daniil Medvedev has spoken about his on-court outburst after losing his first match at the ATP Finals, with the former champion even admitting that he has ‘zero pleasure’ playing at the moment.
Medvedev lost his first round-robin match at the ATP Finals yesterday against Taylor Fritz losing, 4-6 3-6, in just one hour and 21 minutes.
One of the main talking points from this match came during the second set, when Medvedev threw his racket after Fritz got the decisive break.
This led to the Russian receiving a second code violation and subsequently a point penalty, with Medvedev only winning one more game from this point on.
When speaking to media after the match, Medvedev explained that he was frustrated with himself after hitting eight double faults and 24 unforced errors.
“Unfortunately, nothing comes from my mind, and I expect nothing. I get angry, frustrated. This time completely with myself, not with anyone,” explained Medvedev. “Just with myself. Yeah, very frustrated.
“I mean, tough break point. Shank, on the line. I was like, Whatever, I lost the match. I don’t care. I mean, you have to finish the match. You cannot withdraw, no? I just finished the match.”
Medvedev has been one of the most vocal players on tour to criticise quality of balls, and continued this after he was on the wrong end of a lot of the longer rallies.
“The balls make it so that everyone can do it now. So not at all surprised,” claimed the former World No.1. “I have this every day for like two, three years. Every practice is a struggle. Every match is a struggle. I was holding for a long time. Now I feel zero pleasure of being on the court. So no surprise at all about the match today.”
Medvedev now faces an uphill battle to advance to the semi-finals in Turin, with remaining matches against World No.1 Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur, both players who have won their most recent match with against the Russian.
Despite this, the World No.4 appears to be content with any outcome, “(The) ATP Finals are not easy for me. But like I always fight. I’m a good fighter. I am still four in the world. Might be five if Taylor plays good here.
“I’m sure a lot of guys would like it. But now I’m tired to fight. I’m tired to fight against something (the tennis balls) that doesn’t depend on myself. Today I had my chances. I’ll have them in the next matches. If it doesn’t work out, I go on holiday. I’m happy.”
Medvedev will look to get a win on the board tomorrow, when he plays his second round-robin match against the aforementioned De Minaur.
Inside the baseline…
Daniil Medvedev had a poor showing in Turin yesterday, with the serve causing him many troubles particularly in that first set. The second set really felt in the balance and Medvedev had break point chances of his own, but fell apart after being broken by Taylor Fritz and from that point on he almost seemed to check out. Medvedev is now going to struggle to get out of this group, especially with his recent record against Jannik Sinner being so one-sided towards the Italian.
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