‘I don’t play my best tennis on clay,’ Daniil Medvedev heartbroken yet positive after comeback loss in Geneva, eyes French Open next
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Daniil Medvedev
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev had a good start to the 2022 season. He reached the final of the Australian Open and was just one set away from winning his second major title. He then backed it up with a semifinal outing at the Mexican Open where he lost to Rafael Nadal once again. He then had a mediocre Golden Swing where he bowed out of the third round of the Indian Wells Masters and reached the quarterfinal of the Miami Masters. He also became the World No.1 earlier in the season.
But ahead of the clay season, Medvedev announced that he will be sidelined for weeks due to an injury. He was expected to miss the entire clay season but to his surprise, Medvedev revealed that he has recovered and will play the Geneva Open before playing the French Open.
On his return, Medvedev lost his opening match at the Geneva Open to Richard Gasquet in straight sets 2-6,6-7(5). Medvedev’s fondness for clay is well-known to everyone. He hates clay and was very clear about it last season.
After losing to Gasquet, Medvedev once again reiterated the fact that clay isn’t his best surface but he still is capable of pulling off some good results. He was disappointed by the result but knew the fact that this was his comeback game. “It’s tough. I don’t play my best tennis on clay courts. I know that I am capable of making some good results as I did in the past. But for this, I kind of need to be in the zone, which I was not today,” Medvedev said.
“On clay, it is much tougher, and usually from what I remember most of the matches — not all of them, but most of them — I’m losing because it’s tough for me to turn something around unless everything goes well straight away and that’s what happened today.”
Daniil Medvedev physically fit ahead of the French Open
Counting positives, Medvedev said that his body felt physically fine and said that he is ready to compete at the French Open.
“Physically I felt not bad today. I think more days of practice and [I] should be ready for Roland Garros because physically, even right now, my body feels good. Let’s see tomorrow morning because I haven’t played [a tournament] for one month and a half, maybe two months. Hopefully tomorrow morning it’s going to be good also,” he said.
He added that with a few practice sessions, he intends to be on the same level as last year when he reached the quarterfinal. “[I will] have some days of practice before Roland Garros so I’m going to try to work physically and also tennis-wise. Hopefully, I can try to find the game I had there last year, which is not going to be easy.”
Also Read: Petra Kvitova featured in May 2022’s Czech Vogue magazine alongside Martina Navratilova
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)