D. MEDVEDEV/C. Eubanks
6-3, 7-5
THE MODERATOR: Daniil, well done. Tell us a little bit about your match against Chris. You have practiced with him in the past. What surprised you about his game?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, was a tough match. I feel like he followed his plan; I followed mine. He tried to make short points. Didn't give my rhythm, yeah, make the points short as possible. I tried to make rallies longer and longer.
I feel like during the match I was playing better and better, and if not, one bad game on my serve. Could have done it easier in the second set, but yeah, generally tough match.
If he plays like this, he's very dangerous. Yeah, tennis is about consistency, so let's see how he continues this good run here in next tournaments.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Following a little bit of what was just said, how do you prepare when you face tennis players that are like people that are lower ranked or doing a good run in the tournament?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, first of all, I said it on the court. Anyone, I would say, out of the top 200 can make a good week. The question is if they are not yet top 100, top 50, means they are not consistent throughout the year, but on one week, anyone can beat anyone, and we know this in tennis.
Not easy to play someone for the first time, because you don't know exactly their patterns. They might know just a bit more about you because they see you on TV. At the same time, that's what I try to bring, this consistency on court. It managed to work today. You know, tight, tough match, tight match with a lot of opportunities for both of us.
I managed to be on top, and that's what I try to do every time, no matter if I know the opponent well or if I don't know him at all.
Q. So is that ankle injury just totally behind you at this point? Are you treating it at all or just totally free?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, definitely doesn't bother me on the court. It still hurts a little bit, because probably something was injured a little bit. It's like, I don't know, like a bruise, you know. Bruise gonna hurt for some time.
Hopefully it gets better and better, but it doesn't bother me at all on the court. Honestly, starting with the match with Davidovich, it didn't bother me that much.
Yeah, I don't know if I'm going to release one day the photos. The photos are pretty -- there was a big bruise, and it was pretty inflamed.
Q. Could we talk a little bit about your relationship with Karen and the first time you met, first time you became friends, starting playing together? How you assess his start of the season?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I won't remember the first time, because we know each other since such a long time. We are exactly the same age group. So starting from all the young tournaments we played together.
I remember that just before the under-14 age group, he was actually not one of the best in Russia. I was not the best one also. Maybe a little bit higher ranked than him. Then he went really fast up. He got a few wildcards, beat a few top guys when he was like 15 I think or something like this, or 16.
So, yeah, he had a good rise. We had a good rise together to the ATP Tour. We already achieved a lot. It's great. You know, we still spend time together. We are great friends, and I feel like we respect each other a lot.
That's great. I think he had an amazing start in Australia. I mean, semis of a Grand Slam for sure. His second in a row, actually.
Then I don't know if something was bothering him, but he didn't play much, lost some matches, but yeah, back at his best here, semis. We played already one time this year. I need to try to, yeah, to play as good as I did there in Adelaide. I played a good match. Hopefully can show good tennis and try to win.
Q. Your past performances in Miami haven't been terrific. Any reason you think you haven't played your greatest tennis here?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, first of all, the court is faster, for sure, this year. So that's great. Even with the slow court in Indian Wells I managed to play well. Kind of in confidence now.
I'm playing well, starting from Rotterdam. I managed to bring this here because was not that easy. I didn't have a match since the match with Carballes. I think I didn't play for like three days. Then I played a match starting after midnight, probably first time in my life. Like the start of the match was actually after midnight.
Playing early today here, so a little bit hectic tournament, but still managed to have kind of good rhythm. That's what I want to try to do tomorrow.
Q. When you come up against players who are compatriots and friends like Karen and Andrey, do you go in with a completely different mindset, or is it exactly the same as if you're playing anybody else?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think maybe just a little bit you have to kind of force yourself even more to be focused, and when I say this, it's just because they know your game so well and you know theirs so well. So it's kind of I'm almost sure we know how the match is going to go tomorrow, and it's a question of who's going to make the best shot out of we're gonna play.
So I kind of know when he's going to go down the line, when he's going to try to do a high ball, low ball, maybe slice, whatever. And he knows what I'm gonna do. So it becomes who does a better shot at the better time.
So maybe I have to just force yourself a little bit, but at the same time, it's like any other match. You want to win. Honestly I don't care if I play a friend or the guy I don't like on the other side of the net (smiling). Just want to win. That's what competition is.
Q. You have been known for your mental toughness, even in the face of opponents that are tough. Can you talk a bit about how you cultivate that mentality and whether it's something that you consciously work on, or do you think it's something that comes naturally to you?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it's, like everything, it's a little bit of both. You know, you never know what's more important, talent or hard work. Actually both are.
Starting from when I was really young, no matter which game I play, I hate to lose. So I actually hate to lose more than I like to win, and you can kind of see this on the court.
I think that's a good thing. But if you don't work it, that can become a bad thing, because that's when you can, you know, sometimes maybe stop practicing hard, because that's gonna release some pressure of you. If you don't practice hard, you say, yeah, well, I lost the match because I didn't practice well enough. That's a little bit weak.
So I, for sure, worked with a mental coach, especially Francisco with who worked for what, four years probably, helped me a lot to become better mentally, to just have a better mindset on the court. I'm working with another mental coach right now, because last year I didn't have one.
Yeah, that's something I want to improve. And yeah, for example, talking about Indian Wells, I had my tantrums, which it's not good. It can throw you out from the concentrate, and it's not good look anyway, but I managed to still win matches and still be concentrated during those matches.
That's, yeah, that's what I try to do.
Q. You're one of the best players in the world.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Thanks (smiling).
Q. Obviously you have had tremendous success. Maybe 2022 wasn't as best as probably the other years. What have you found recently in this stretch, right, like winning so many tournaments in a row, making the final at Indian Wells, in semifinals here. What have you found similar in those moments, or right now where is everything clicking for you?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I got the momentum going. Last year, even if it was not as I wanted to sometimes, I was working hard on the practices. I never stopped working hard on practice. I was working hard physically, so that's why I'm able to do this many tournaments in a row.
It was not, you know, paying dividends as I would like, but I was continuing to work and managed to find a lot of confidence this year by winning these matches in for sure Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai. Yeah, managed to keep it going, which I was able to do sometimes in my career, and sometimes I know also you can have a down moment at one point, so you try to do the high moment as long as possible. I managed to continue it here.
Last year I actually, yeah, was not able many tournaments. I was playing god, and then for whatever reason, I would have one match where I would be completely off. The further in the tournament it is, the more chances you lose. I lost some matches like this where after the match I was like, That was really not a good match for me.
This year I managed to do much better, especially lately, and I hope I can continue the season this way.
Q. You said you watch a lot of tennis. You're one of the players who does watch a lot of tennis. Are you planning on watching Carlos and Taylor?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: They play at 7:00, so I'm going to be having dinner. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna watch probably the first set because I go dinner at like 8:30, and then I will see if I continue watching on the phone or not. Depends. Probably depends the score and the way the match is going.
Yeah, I wash a lot of tennis when I'm in the tournament, because I feel like this keeps me in the tennis mood. But as soon as I'm out of the tournament, I won't watch a match. Maybe if there is a tiebreak of a third set, I would be, like, Okay, let's watch a few points. If not, definitely turn off tennis in my life when I'm not in the tournament.
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