Daniil Medvedev Opens Up on His Recovery From Monte Carlo Double Bagel Defeat
Daniil Medvedev to kick off his Madrid Open campaign against Fabian Marozsan or Ethan Quinn.
Follow Us
Daniil Medvedev (Image via X/Tiempo De Tenis)
- Daniil Medvedev aims to recover from a humiliating double bagel defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters as he prepares for the Madrid Open.
- He expressed frustration over his performance and was fined €6,000 for smashing his racket during the match against Matteo Berrettini.
- Medvedev acknowledges his struggles on clay and believes luck plays a significant role in his performance on the surface.
Daniil Medvedev arrives at the Madrid Open with the intention of resetting things after one of the most extreme defeats of his career at the Monte Carlo Masters. The former US Open champion, who has not had a good run on clay since last season, aims to improve his performance on the surface, starting with the Spanish capital.
Medvedev had entered the Monte Carlo Masters after a runner-up finish at the Indian Wells Open. In fact, he’s the only player in the men’s circuit to have reached three tour-level finals apart from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. There were expectations that he was going to easily beat Matteo Berrettini in his opening match.
Berrettini had just returned from injury a few weeks before the clash and was not in his best form. But the Italian star outplayed and bulldozed Medvedev 6-0, 6-0 in less than fifty minutes on the court. The result marked the first time Medvedev suffered a double bagel defeat in his professional career.
He was visibly frustrated with his performance and result, and he lost his cool and smashed his racket on the red dirt several times until it broke in two. He was subsequently fined €6,000 ($7,000) for a violation of the code. However, beyond the result, the loss reinforced long-standing questions around the Russia star’s adaptation to clay, a surface on which he has been largely inconsistent.
The World No.10 was also criticized by several former players for his reaction to the loss against Berrettini at the Monte Carlo. Speaking to Sofya Tartakova, Medvedev admitted that the double bagel defeat was very painful and humiliating. He added that it took time for him to return to training and prepare for the next tournament:
You can’t lose 6-0 at this level just by playing tennis. Something wasn’t right that day, and then you try to find the reason and make sure not to repeat it next time. It’s painful at least because of the humiliation, because losing 6-0, 6-0 is humiliation. But that’s life, that’s sport. I’m not the first, I won’t be the last. Of course, for a few days, it was tough. I’d say about a week it was hard just to get back into the rhythm and understand what to do next.
Medvedev’s best record at the Madrid Open is reaching the quarter-finals in 2024 and 2025. Last year, he battled hard against eventual champion Casper Ruud in their quarter-final clash but lost in three sets. The 30-year-old has a chance to do better at the 2026 edition as he’s seeded seventh following the withdrawal of several top players.
Daniil Medvedev says playing on clay is like a FIFA video game
Daniil Medvedev failed to reach a clay tournament final last year. In fact, the last time he lifted a clay title was in Rome in 2023. Since then, he has struggled to find consistency on the surface, unlike on the hard court. He will face either Fabian Marozsan or Ethan Quinn in the second round of the Madrid Open.
He’s projected to take on Canadian star Denis Shapovalov in the third round of the tournament. He could then face his fellow compatriot Karen Khachanov in the fourth round. Away from that, Medvedev understands that he struggles on clay despite his efforts to get better. In the aforementioned interview, he admitted that he needs an element of luck to win matches:
For me, clay is like FIFA. You can do everything right, but there’s still a big element of luck. Sometimes it’s the easiest ball, and it bounces badly, and you lose the point. Almost no matter what the opponent does, you always have an answer — and usually the right one. You start to know where they’ll hit, where they’ll serve. That’s when it becomes very hard for them.
Medvedev is on the same side of the draw as Alexander Zverev. Should he reach the quarter-finals of the event, he will face the German star. Zverev is entering the Madrid Open following his unsuccessful bid to defend the Munich Open last week. He’s yet to win a tour-level title this season.
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)