Daniil Medvedev didn’t win a game in his humbling defeat to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters.
For the first time in his career, Medvedev lost 6-0, 6-0, delivering his worst performance since changing coaches last year.
Will Daniil Medvedev ever win another title on clay?
Daniil Medvedev lost 6-0, 6-0 for the very first time!
Watching the Russian lose in the second round, Jamie Murray claimed he would have been ’embarrassed’ to perform like Medvedev in Monte Carlo.
Shortly afterwards, Medvedev spoke to ‘Bolshe‘ to share his thoughts on the match.
Daniil Medvedev doesn’t know what went wrong in Monte Carlo against Matteo Berrettini
“To be honest, basically it’s the same as every year, in training I wasn’t the best on clay, but I wasn’t losing 6-0!” said Medvedev (translated from Russian).
“I don’t really understand what happened.
“I just couldn’t get a hold of anything, or even get a serve in.
“I served well in practice, so it’s unclear what happened, but it seems like nothing can be changed.”
Daniil Medvedev vs Matteo Berrettini – Match stats
| Stats | Daniil Medvedev | Matteo Berrettini |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Double faults | 5 | 0 |
| 1st Serve % | 36% | 65% |
| Win % on 1st Serve | 42% | 73% |
| Win % on 2nd Serve | 25% | 83% |
| Break points | 0/2 | 6/8 |
| Winners | 2 | 8 |
| Unforced errors | 23 | 7 |
Medvedev’s serve was poor against Berrettini, making just 36% of his first serves.
He was then asked what he tried to do during the match to turn his fortunes around.
“I don’t even know, it was tough to try anything, because, in principle, I probably didn’t hit more than two balls into play,” said Medvedev.
“You can play aggressively, you can play defensively, but if you don’t hit the court at all, then no matter how you play, it won’t help.
“Again, I don’t see any reasons [for the performance] for now.”
The former world number one knows he wasn’t good enough, but was unsure of how to assess the defeat.
“I don’t even know if it’s worth looking for them [reasons why he lost] or if I should forget about it and prepare for the next tournament,” said Medvedev.
“It’s clear that you need to try to analyse, but is it worth going into too much detail?
“It’s one thing when you lose 6-3, 6-3, and you try to understand what you could have done better, but when you lose by such a score [6-0, 6-0], then you could have done everything better.
“So is it worth analysing it or should we just try to do much, much better next time?”
Medvedev will now travel to Spain for the Madrid Open, where he will look to pick up his first win of the clay-court season.
Daniil Medvedev’s clay-court struggles continue
Medvedev has a love-hate relationship with clay courts.
Or should I say, a hate-hate relationship…
For all his success elsewhere on tour, Medvedev has never quite got to grips with the red stuff.
Daniil Medvedev’s clay-court campaigns
| Year | Monte Carlo | Madrid | Rome | Roland Garros |
| 2026 | 2R | – | – | – |
| 2025 | 3R | QF | 4R | 1R |
| 2024 | 3R | QF | 4R | 4R |
| 2023 | QF | 4R | W | 1R |
| 2022 | – | – | – | 4R |
| 2021 | – | 3R | 2R | QF |
| 2020 | – | – | – | 1R |
| 2019 | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R |
| 2018 | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R |
| 2017 | 1R | – | – | 1R |
The 30-year-old has only won one clay-court title, at the 2023 Italian Open.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Medvedev won Rome three years ago, defeating Holger Rune in the final.
Unfortunately for Medvedev, that now seems like a distant memory…
Only time will tell if he can bounce back from his Monte Carlo disappointment and find form elsewhere on clay this year.
The 2026 Madrid Open begins on Monday, April 20.
