Once upon a time there was Russian Daniil Medvedev, he masterfully won his first Masters 1000 on clay in Rome and is the number 2 seed at Roland-Garros. However, the world number 2 has never been kind to the surface in a press conference: “Are there players who really like to be dirty after clay? I don’t know. I do not like. I prefer to be clean. I can not lie. The socks, you can throw them away because you wash them and there is always dirt in them”. Or even on the courses during his defeat in the first round of this same Rome Masters in 2021 against his compatriot Aslan Karatsev: “Do you like being in the dust like a dog? OK. I don’t judge.” The Russian excelled on the ocher in Rome and comes to Roland as the number 2 seed and is one of the outsiders capable of lifting the Musketeers Cup. Especially since the draw was rather favorable to him, he inherits the most affordable part of the table.
At a press conference this Friday, he returned to confidence: “The general mood is better because in Rome, I never won a match and in Geneva, where I played, I lost in first round, he explained. It’s the first time I’ve come here having won matches the previous week. That’s wonderful. It’s one of the first times I’m a little less stressed compared to clay. Afterwards, the thing with tennis, as soon as the first match starts, it’s a new story and we don’t know how it will turn out, if I’m going to play well or not, if I’m going to win or lose, do the game of my life. For the moment everything is going well, I have a lot of confidence, I will try to transfer that to the tournament and we will see”.
No question of playing under any pressure, for Medvedev it will be game by game like in Rome: “I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself but what happened in Rome was fantastic. I won against fantastic players, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rune, Zapata Miralles and Ruusuvuori who played three sets against Alcaraz in Madrid; it’s a fantastic feeling. I may have higher expectations than usual at Roland-Garros but I know it can be a trap. You have to be able to use this confidence but without being too proud of yourself because you say to yourself ‘it’s going to be easy’ and from the first round you have a problem, you get angry and you miss a match. I have been in this situation many times before. I just want to play good tennis here at Roland-Garros.”