Daniil Medvedev responds to Jannik Sinner ‘clay court’ comment

Daniil Medvedev has responded to Jannik Sinner, after the Italian joked about the Russian’s clay court credentials following their final at the Miami Open.

Medvedev beat Sinner, 7-5 6-3, to win his fifth Masters 1000 title and has now risen to No.1 in the race to the ATP finals in Turin.

The No.4 made a poor start to the season by his standards, losing in the third round of the Australian Open, but has since gone on to win 25 out of his last 26 matches picking up four titles in the process.

By reaching his first final at the Floridian Masters 1000 event, Medvedev became the first man since Ivan Lendl in 1981 to reach five successive finals.

In the trophy ceremony, Medvedev made one last jibe at the Indian Wells courts that he had previously labelled as ‘not real hard courts’, “People in Miami love tennis. I love people in Miami… I feel like it’s a real hard court, so I don’t know who makes this decision, but thanks a lot to everyone who made this court this year. I was really happy to play on it”

Medvedev was not the only player to have a joke in his post-match speech, with Sinner poking fun at the Russian’s credentials on the upcoming clay courts.

“First, congrats Daniil. Not only for this tournament but for the last 5. Playing incredible tennis. Congrats to you and obviously your team. Making an incredible job. Now the clay season starts, so let’s see how you do there,” said Sinner.

"Now clay season starts, so let's see how you do there" ?@janniksin has the last laugh at the @MiamiOpen #MiamiOpen | @DaniilMedwed pic.twitter.com/e9oYDLnFto

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 2, 2023

The 2021 US Open champion has previously confessed to ‘hating’ clay, but believes that he can ‘play well’ on the surface.

“I feel the best game on hard courts, even if I know that I can play well enough on grass and clay. On hard courts I feel the most fluid. And on hard courts I can play not my best tennis but still win the matches and that’s a big difference,” said Medvedev.

He continued, “I know that I can play well on clay. I beat Novak (Djokovic) once on clay. I actually beat (Stefanos) Tsitsipas and Novak in the same tournament once (the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters). That’s a pretty good achievement on clay,”

“But if on hard courts like here, I feel like many of the matches I didn’t play my best tennis, but I managed to win them in the tournament. Clay court is tougher for me.If I don’t play my best tennis, I can lose much easier. So hopefully I can be at my best on clay court season.”

Daniil Medvedev at Roland Garros

While Medvedev does not claim to be a clay court specialist, he has made it further at Roland Garros than at Wimbledon.

Here is Medvedev’s full history at Roland Garros:

Win-loss record: 7-6 (54%)

2017: Lost in the first round to Benjamin Bonzi (wildcard), 7-5 4-6 1-6 1-3 (retired)

2018: Lost in the first round to Lucas Pouille (15), 2-6 3-6 4-6

2019: Lost in the first round to Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 6-4 6-4 3-6 2-6 5-7

2020: Lost in the first round to Marton Fucsovics, 4-6 6(3)-7 6-2 1-6

2021: Lost in the quarter-final to Stefanos Tsitsipas (5), 3-6 6(3)-7 5-7

2022: Lost in the fourth round to Marin Cilic (20), 2-6 3-6 2-6

Medvedev is scheduled to make his return to the clay at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he previously reached the semi-finals in 2019, that begin on the 9th April.

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