Daniil Medvedev draws parallels between reaching the Indian Wells semifinals and reaching the semis of a clay tournament
Being a hard court specialist, the Indian Wells Open is the only hard court Masters 1000 title Daniil Medvedev is yet to win.
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Daniil Medvedev (via X)
Daniil Medvedev was a finalist at Indian Wells in the previous two years, losing to Carlos Alcaraz on both occasions. Being a hard court specialist, the Indian Wells Open is the only hard court ATP Masters 1000 title the Russian is yet to win. However, his quest for the title this year ended in the semifinals as he faced defeat to Holger Rune.
After the match, Medvedev made a brief comment about hard and clay court tournaments. Among clay court tournaments, he has been a semi-finalist at the Monte Carlo Masters, a finalist at the Barcelona Open, and a winner in the 2023 Italian Open, where he defeated Rune in the finals. Medvedev also expressed hope for doing better in the Miami Open, a tournament that he won in 2023, by defeating Jannik Sinner in the finals.
100% good. In fact, I don’t really have any favorite, convenient tournaments, until the balls or courts change. I don’t know what it depends on, the courts or the balls. That is, I do my best. Sometimes this best is, as it were, below my capabilities. Then I’m upset. Here, in a sense, on a clay court, I reached the semi-finals. In principle, I could have achieved a better result. But this is, as it were, a good result. That is, if it were four years ago, I would have been dissatisfied. But for the conditions in which I play, this is an excellent result. I hope that it will be better in Miami, by the way, one of the few tournaments where you can still score something.
Daniil Medvedev told the Indian Wells press
The semifinal match marked the fourth meeting on court between the Dane and the Russian, and their second meeting in Indian Wells. They had previously met each other last year in the quarterfinals of the tournament where Daniil Medvedev defeated Holger Rune 7-5, 6-4. Interestingly, Rune defeated Medvedev this year with the same scoreline.
The head-to-head between Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune is tied 2-2, with each having both a hard court and clay court victory over the other. With this semifinal victory, Rune advanced to the fourth Masters 1000 final of his career.
Holger Rune will face Jack Draper in the Indian Wells finals
In the Indian Wells finals, Holger Rune will face Jack Draper, who stunned two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. This will interestingly also be a final where the opponents, who are both sponsored by Nike, will be donning matching kits!
The upcoming match will be the second meeting between both, with Rune winning their last encounter in straight sets at the 2024 Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals. Both players have had an impressive run in Indian Wells this year, defeating several higher-ranked players on their way to the finals.
Daniil Medvedev had a rough start to his 2025 season
Medvedev, who has been in a title drought since 2023, when he won the Rome Masters that year, had a rather rocky start to his 2025 season. He had an early exit at the Australian Open after losing to wildcard Learner Tien in the second round of the tournament and surviving a scare in the first round that pushed him to the extent of smashing his racket.
Medvedev then played at the Rotterdam Open, where he again lost in his second-round match. He then competed in the Qatar Open, where he made it to the quarterfinals; however, he had to retire mid-match due to food poisoning.
Prior to the Indian Wells tournament, he played in the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he again made it to the quarterfinals. He also parted ways with his coach Giles SImon earlier this year.
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