‘Something I’ve always dreamt of,’ Daniil Medvedev expresses his emotions on being the new World No.1, talks about his greatest strength too
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Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev is probably the most in-form and consistent player amongst the NextGen. He has produced some amazing results in the last two years and has risen up the ranks. After his semifinal finish a couple of weeks ago at Acapulco, Medvedev became the new World No.1 in the ATP Rankings. In doing so, he became the first man other than the Big 4- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray, to become the No.1 player in almost two decades.
Medvedev, who is currently playing his first tournament as World No.1 at Indian Wells, notched up a dominating second-round win over Czech qualifier Tomas Machac in straight sets 6-3,6-2. After the match, Medvedev spoke about becoming the new World No.1. He said that it’s a great feeling as he’s dreamt of it for a long time. He also added that he won’t stop here and wants to consistently play better.
“For me, it’s a great feeling. Something I’ve always dreamt of, something I was going for. At the same time I want to play better, I want to try to win more. For example, talking about the Australian Open, for sure wanted to win it,” he said.
He then revealed his mindset heading deep into the tournament and said that the only way to keep the No.1 spot is by winning tournaments. “I’m thinking, Okay, if I have one more chance like this, I should be better, I should be stronger. The more tournaments you win, the more points you gain, the more chances you have to stay at this #1 spot for more weeks, more time. That’s what matters for me the most,” he said.
‘I think my greatest strength is consistency’: Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev also spoke about his greatest strengths as a player. He considers ‘consistency’ as his greatest strength. He said that one can hit a lot of winners and play very aggressively but all it takes is one unforced error to lose the match.
“I think my greatest strength is consistency and in tennis, it’s really important. You can hit a lot of winners, you can play really aggressively, but if you make one winner, one unforced errors, probably you’re going to lose the match,” Medvedev said.
Up next, Medvedev will face 26th seed Frenchman Gael Monfils in the third round on Tuesday. Monfils won their last meeting back in 2019 and Medvedev would definitely want to avenge that loss.
Also read: “Total boys club,” Reilly Opelka slams ATP for being a ‘circus’
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Lakshya Chopra
(2648 Articles Published)