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There were no on-court theatrics from Daniil Medvedev the last time he won the Indian Wells Open, but during his post-match press conference he gave some candid responses when talking about the pressures of being No. 1 and the enemies that come with it. Account as well as the ultimate goal in tennis.
Medvedev continued his good run on Wednesday with a strong performance to win his 18th straight match on the ATP Tour against Alejandro Davidevich Fokina.
Although his victory over Alexander Zverev the previous day was an exciting event, he defeated Fokina 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. Profession.
Read more: Daniil Medvedev: ‘I don’t want to be remembered for my anger’
There were no provocations in the traditional post-match media briefing, instead he gave some blunt answers.
Medvedev is currently ranked No. 6 in the ATP rankings but is a former world No. 1 and can no doubt return to the top spot if he continues his current season for two more tournaments.
When asked about the pros and cons of being No. 1, he replied: “Honestly, it’s hard to say, but it felt normal. When I say ‘normal’, I don’t mean it like it’s easy or anything. It just felt so good.
Because I know that I didn’t play my best when I was number 1 at the moment and I lost some matches. But I had this No. 1 spot because I had nothing, 2,000 points from the US Open, 1,000 from Toronto, 600 from Bercy, maybe 800 or from Turin, so a lot of points have been accumulated in the last 52 weeks, and that’s how it ranks.
“I think that’s very fair, otherwise I’d be No. 1 now because I’ve won three finals in a row, but the rankings don’t work that way.
“I’m very happy that I took this position and kept it for a long time. I wasn’t happy with the level of my tennis and the matches I lost, but that had nothing to do with being No. 1. It was just, yes, losing other tennis matches against other players.
“Are tennis players trying to beat you more when you’re No. 1? I do not know. I hope I don’t because it would be better for them if they try to do it in every match regardless of the number in the ranking.
“Other? And definitely the pressure is not easy, because you know that everyone expects a lot from you. I think that taught me more, because definitely when I was 20 years old and I just came, you love social media, you love to read all the comments about yourself, how people say, OK, he’s doing well, or even he’s a bad player, and When you’re young, sometimes you answer them, no, I’ll do well, that.
“And this pressure to be No. 1, definitely a lot of enemies. And that’s normal. Novak [Djokovic] He has many enemies. Even Rafa [Nadal] And Roger [Federer] Somehow they have. You’re like, how is this possible? (smiles) They shouldn’t have.
“And it taught me not to give up on that and to focus more, on the people around me, because that’s the only way you stay sane and sane, like I said, so you don’t have any regrets. Just because someone says you should have put that backhand into the court, no, you know you did your best and maybe your coach is going to tell you if you need to do better, and he’s the only one who can tell you kindly. this”
Medvedev achieved two major goals in his career as he won a Grand Slam in addition to being ranked No. 1 in the ATP Rankings and winning the 2021 US Open title.
The 27-year-old was asked if he had a long-term goal or if he was going day-to-day: “Obviously more day-to-day, because the only goal I’ve told myself is maybe whatever’s around, I don’t really remember, but four years ago I took tennis seriously because of various reasons that were happening in my life.” When I started taking things.
“I was right before, I was already top 100 but I was just traveling the tour in a fun way, because tennis is always fun; it’s always your job. But I could go out before the tournament, I could sleep late before the match, because I, like, Regardless, I’ll play well anyway.
“Then at some point I stopped that and started being more professional about my career and tennis. That’s when my most important goal is to have no regrets when I’m done. The match with Rafa means, I definitely regret not winning and not having the second Slam. I was close but I fought. I fought to the end. I probably missed some shots, but that’s sports.
“And I don’t want to be, yeah, when I’m 35 and I retire, I don’t want to say that I would have done it differently in my career, as I’ve heard other tennis players do. Maybe my job will be better or I will regret doing this.
“When I finish my career, no matter how many Slams, tournaments I win, or whatever, I want to know that I did my best. I feel like I’m achieving my goals so far, even last year wasn’t the best year, but I’ve been trying. I’ve been trying hard, and I’ve been doing my best, and I’m doing it this year.
“So that’s my biggest goal.”
