D. MEDVEDEV/T. Atmane
5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 (ret.)
THE MODERATOR: Well done, Daniil. How tough were the conditions out there, and how impressed were you by --
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Much hotter than here (laughing). Here I think what is tough is that the conditions itself were kind of not the toughest I have ever played in, but since one week we didn't really have hot days. I think one day was a little bit hot, but then when you practice, you get, what, two hours maximum. We had a one hour, 30 practice. You don't have the nerves.
So here first match for me. I mean, he's not used to Grand Slams also yet, so a lot of nerves. The heat is there. So physically it's not easy I think. Every match I saw was looking some guys are better, some guys are worse, but it's tough for everyone.
So I'm happy that I managed to be stronger physically because it was not easy at one moment. At this moment he started cramping. I was, like, okay, it's not easy for him also. Just have to stay in there and happy to go through.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Talking to Novak yesterday he said that playing qualifiers in the first round and putting yourself in a tough spot sometimes demands of you to pretend that everything is okay, you know, to show certain body language which does not indicate that you're in trouble. While Andrey yesterday said he was in a bit of a panic in the fifth set. What do you do in such situations when things appear to be --
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think you always try to show as less as possible to your opponent. Then sometimes it happens that you show it either because you are tired and you can't handle it anymore or something like this or because you had too much frustration.
But I think in general it's always better not to show it because, again, as I say, maybe five minutes before he cramped, I start showing him that I'm tired or something like this, maybe he wouldn't cramp. Who knows? Mind can be really strong and crazy and tricky sometimes.
I always try not to show too much to my opponent, and to be honest, I think usually I succeed. Sometimes I get frustrated. I think it was Andrey. It's funny because one match in Cincinnati I got frustrated, the camera. Then he beat me playing very good. It was very hot that day. He played very good. He hit some great volleys. I was, like, Okay, good job for him. First time he beat me.
One year later we're speaking. He is, like, Yeah, I remember this match. As soon as I saw you were kicking the camera or something, I was like, oh, good for me. Not like the match is done, but good for me he is in this mood.
I remember the match. I was playing same. He was playing better. I was like, okay, I will never show you again anything if you work like this.
Yeah, it depends. Always better not to show anything, so yeah.
Q. I saw before the first point you had the ball boy move this little square at the back of the court. He was going to stand on. You were talking about the camera just then. It got me to thinking, how many times throughout a year do you play on a court where you think, I wish there was actually even more space?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: A lot, a lot. Usually Grand Slams I think probably all the courts, even the second ones, and usually I play only on the first or second one. They are fine. Like, I have enough space.
I remember Rome. I won it, but I think everyone is telling that it's just a bit small. Madrid is not easy because central court is amazing, like huge. So we laughed about this with Alex Shevchenko. He remembers when he was hitting bombs, and I was, like, 10 meters back still doing lobs because I was playing good on clay last year.
Next match I play with Karatsev, and there is zero space on second court. During the match I got really frustrated because I felt against someone like Aslan, there are two ways. You play with him his game on the line, but it's not easy, and that's not really my strength, or you go 50 meters behind and you try to make lobs and try to make him move. This option was not the case, and I lost the match.
So there are moments in the year where I'm disappointed because I cannot play as I want. At the same time maybe because of me the court is going to get... and not only me, but Casper, Rafa... courts are going to get bigger and bigger because I think it's good when every player has an opportunity to do what they want.
Q. You're famously a hard court specialist by your own definition. I'm curious, this is the biggest hard court tournament you haven't won. What is it about the conditions here that have maybe been tougher than somewhere else? Just sort of if you can give your expert opinion of the hard courts here versus the rest.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: To be honest, it's probably true I feel, for whatever reason, I don't know the reason, a little worse in these conditions Australian Open than some other tournaments. At the same time I was two times in the final, and one I was really close to winning. So I really hope I can show my best tennis one time here, at least one, and win it.
What else I can say? It's the first tournament of the year. Even if you have, like, warm-up tournament, it's still kind of beginning of the year, so the sensations are different.
Whereas I feel like at US Open, I feel like many times I peak because you're still not yet exhausted of the season, and it's like for me the best moment where you had a lot of matches coming in, Toronto, Cincinnati. Have one week of practice, and you go for it.
In Australia it's different. You have a preseason, so you know you're going to be ready for the season, but for this exact tournament, not sure.
So I feel like today I played well, even losing the first set. I feel like it was good for the first match, so I hope I can only play better and better and try to win it.
Q. Your first match, did that feel different than you expected? Obviously this is a new strategy for you.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think physically. Physically it was tough, as I say, with the heat. Not sure it would be different if I had a warm-up tournament, but physically it was tough.
In terms of tennis I felt fine. So, yeah, happy to win. If I would lose, I don't know what I would say, but I won, so let's see how it goes next.
Q. Novak mentioned last night about fans coming down between games and not necessarily the change. Did you notice that today? Is that something that would bother you while you were playing?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it depends. Usually when they're on the side, it's fine. If they're just behind, it can bother, yeah, on return or serve.
For me it's even more return. On serve at least you toss the ball up. On the return the guy tosses the ball up, and you see all this movement.
It for sure bothers me a little bit. I think the thing is that on slams it's only one-minute changeover, so for sure 500 people will not enter.
I always said this. I think the changeover should be bigger. I don't see why. I mean, because we still stay there because we are used to 1:30 on ATP tour. Today is, like, 32 degrees. Sit down. It's 40 seconds. You drink a zip of water. You're not going to stand up.
Today me and Terence, we took like 30 extra seconds all the time. So I think it should be just 1:30. Everyone can sit down. The advertisement on TV can be 30 minutes longer, I think. They win some money. The only thing that maybe it makes the matches longer, but then some guys bounce the ball for 20 seconds, and we need to see many other rules. So I think it should be 1:30, and then maybe it would be easier for the public also.
Q. I'm just curious, did you know about him before, his game, Terence? Do you think he was really on fire today, or do you think he could maybe be top 100 in the next month?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: First of all, I didn't know him at all before. I knew the name, not the game. I knew he is lefty. Everyone told me he can play well, so well. Everyone told me very dangerous forehand and not so good with the backhand.
Honestly, I don't check the stats, so I don't know. You can tell me next time. But from what I felt on the court, in my opinion, what I remember, he missed maybe three backhands in the match.
First set I tried to go a lot there, and then I lost it. Second set I was, like, Okay, I'm going to go more to the forehand, and it was a little bit better.
So it was a bit surprising, but he played well. He played well. He was consistent, served well, return not bad. Today he played very good, as I would call it top-30 player for sure. Then it's the question whether he can play like this all the time or not. This we never know. We see at the end of the season.
Q. You've had a volatile relationship with the crowds. Of all the Grand Slams, which Grand Slam crowd do you think is the worst?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Is the worst (laughing). I think the thing is that I had my worst moments with every crowd, and I had my best moments with every crowd on every Grand Slam. So I would not pick one for the worst and not pick one for the best. I think my relationship with US Open is, like, amazing, but I would not want to put any other down.
As I said in my first press, this year I'm going to try to have a different mentality on all this, like games with the crowd, in the way that on court some things can happen, but try to love everyone and hopefully everyone can feel the same. Something like this.
I think I try right now very important to feel good with myself, and like this I can feel good with everybody else. That's what I try to do. Let's see if I manage to do it. Yeah, I hope I can.
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