For a long time, he hated this surface. Oh, really. Because he couldn't do it, he thought he wasn't cut out for. And then came this Sunday, May 21, 2023 and the Russian Daniil Medvedev, one of the best players on the circuit, corrected an anomaly in his record: at 27 years old, he won the first tournament on clay of his career, his 20th title on the circuit.
In the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome, which serves as a dress rehearsal a week before the start of Roland-Garros, he beat the Dane Holger Rune (7-5, 7-5), who enjoyed rather the favors of the predictions despite a lower ranking, precisely because of this hatred for the land of the Russian. The latter had so far only played one final on this surface, lost in 2019 in Barcelona against Dominic Thiem.
"It's unbelievable. I never thought I would be able to do it," Medvedev said. "Honestly, a Grand Slam is bigger, so the US Open (won in 2021) is still number one (in its record) but this tournament is special because I didn't think I would be able to do it. I still don't even believe it, not to have won, but to have played so well. »
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This victory is not without consequences since it allows the Russian to reach the second world ranking and to have the certainty of not crossing the Spanish terror Carlos Alcaraz before the final of Roland-Garros, of which he has never gone beyond the quarterfinals.
"If I had remained number 3, I would have had in my table either Alcaraz or Djokovic. So I guess it's better to be No. 2," he added. So I won't play Carlos (Alcaraz) until a possible final, and I'm 50% lucky that Novak (Djokovic) won't be in my draw. »
"It's either training or my new shoes"
"At the same time, I never went beyond the quarter-finals at Roland Garros (in 2021)... It's always good to have a good draw, but it's always better to play well! Because here, for example, I had the worst draw I've ever had, and I managed to get by. »
How to explain such a metamorphosis on earth? The Russian, coached by Frenchman Gilles Cervera, saw a funny explanation. "It's either training or my new shoes." More seriously, he has improved his movements and his strikes are deeper. "I think the new string (of his rackets) that I'm trying this year helps me, because it's more flexible and the ball starts more easily. And I managed to have time (to train), and so I managed to move well and play well long. It sounds simple, but it's the hardest part in tennis. You want to play long and you miss, that's what happened to me in previous years. This week, in Rome, I managed to put into practice what I had in mind. »
If he also succeeds at Roland Garros, he will be a title contender to watch closely in the absence of the master of the place Rafael Nadal, forfeit because of his long injury to the psoas. "I think (his absence) opens up possibilities for a lot of players, because even if he wasn't 100 percent physically and he had decided to play, he would have been one of the favorites, that's for sure," Medvedev said Thursday. Was he thinking of himself then?
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