DANIIL MEDVEDEV Q&A ON EUROSPORT'S HANGING OUT WITH BABSI

Barbara Schett: Have you thought about the schedule yet? Are you going to start with Washington, Cincinnati or will the USA Open be the first one for you?

Daniil Medvedev: The calendar is so, so tough because there are around seven weeks in a row where there are three Masters 1000 and two Slams, which is incredible. I’ve entered Washington and would really love to play there – I played three years in a row and made the final last year... You never know how you’ll do in Cincinnati and if you don’t play well you have to play a five-setter at the USA Open straight away after six months of not playing any tournaments… That’s why we decided to go to Washington and to see where we’re at. If anyone does well at any of these tournaments, they’re probably not going to well at the next one.

Barbara Schett: Do you have any concerns going to the US Open?

Daniil Medvedev: I don’t think we can know what’s happening in New York and many players are against strict rules. But again, if you don’t have these there’s a big chance of us getting infected. 

You need to find a good balance. Everyone wants to come back to play tennis, but everyone wants to be safe. Also, if some countries can’t travel, it’s not fair for everybody. I want to come back to the court as fast as possible and play tournaments for the fans all over the world but it’s a tough decision on when we’re going to start.

Barbara Schett: You played amazing tennis at the US Open last year but there’s not going to be any crowd this year. Have you ever thought about playing there without a crowd?

Daniil Medvedev: It’s going to be super weird and strange. All of us played junior tournaments where you play maybe just with your coach but it’s different – it’s a small court somewhere indoors in the middle of nowhere… It’s different if you come to Arthur Ashe where there’s 20,000 people and now only two of your team members. The most difficult thing will be to play night matches.   

Barbara Schett: What are you missing from the Tour?

Daniil Medvedev: The thing I miss most is the competition. I love to win, I love to compete in everything I do, no matter which sport it is. I [even] bet against my friends to see who runs the fastest! But tennis is my job and I miss the feeling of seeing how strong you are against the best opponents in the world. I’m really looking forward to getting back on Tour and fighting to win.

Barbara Schett: Have you had any thoughts about entering any exhibitions? 

Daniil Medvedev: I decided to give myself a little break before the ATP Tour comes back. I also want to be safe and want to be sure about everything… We saw some [at] some exhibitions it can be tough, so I want to keep my family safe also. 

[When asked about how Daniil progressed so quickly]

Daniil Medvedev: Almost every year of my professional career if you asked me what I’ve achieved, I wouldn’t believe it. Every year I was going up step by step and it was the same last year – I finished no.16 in the world which is a huge improvement for me. I started the year [2019] well and had six finals in a row, three titles, and this is something I couldn’t even dream of. It was pretty amazing, I was playing good and was really confident but I had a lot of luck as well. I just want to reproduce this as much as a I can.

Three years ago, I started to start to be more professional about tennis. I was already top 100 but things outside the court I could change… Going to bed late, going out sometimes… I thought they didn’t affect my results but becoming a bit older and talking to my coach, I decided to give it a go and become more professional and sacrifice some things. Like going to the bar in the evening with friends, maybe even two days before a match, going to bed at 2am which isn’t ridiculous, and everyone does it, but I decided to be more professional… Go to bed at 11pm, wake up and eat a good breakfast.

It worked pretty well and I cannot go back if I want to play good tennis. If it didn’t work, maybe I would go back to my normal life before but it worked really well.

Barbara Schett: Why did you choose to go live in Cannes?

Daniil Medvedev: I was 18 and my parents decided everything for me. I was living in Moscow which is a great city and if it was my decision, I would’ve maybe decided not to leave it, but I would not be sitting here with you right now. It was a great decision and if it didn’t work out, I maybe would’ve tried Spain or USA, but it worked out really well.

My Father always wanted me to become a professional sports player and my Mum was really sceptical about sports as not everybody makes it. She was always trying to make me a second path and I was studying in a good university in Moscow, but tennis is my life right now.

Honestly, it’s a little bit tough to play when they were watching me. When I was young there was a big pressure to play in front of them because they were my mentors and if I did anything bad they would say it to me as coaches and I don’t feel 100% confident when they’re watching me!

Barbara Schett: I heard you liked PlayStation?

Daniil Medvedev: I like competing and do consider cybersport as a sport. That was one of the parts of being more professional however – I stopped playing PlayStation all the time. 

There were a few moments - especially before I got married - when I just came on the Tour, I had mononucleosis after Indian Wells and had to spend one month at home without moving and I was really weak. From 12pm–10pm, I was playing PlayStation most of the time! 

One time long ago, I was on a tournament like three days before a match, me and my friends played from 8pm to like 7am and they went to sleep and I said “guys, I’m going to breakfast as I have practice at 8am!” I fell asleep at breakfast for 20 minutes and then went to practice. The tournament didn’t finish good and like I said, I completely changed this habit after.

[On Daniil’s relationship with his fellow Russian players]

Daniil Medvedev: On the Tour we are the closest friends [Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev]. On the Tour it’s still about countries, language and culture. It’s French with French and South Americans with South Americans which is completely normal, so I think we are the closest friends and spend a lot of good times out of the court.

Barabara Schett: If you had a chance to replay one of your matches again, which would it be?

Daniil Medvedev: It has to be the match against Rafa in London… 5-1 and a match point, what else can I say? [At the] US Open final [2019] I did everything I can but there was not much I could change there.

Barbara Schett: If you could choose two players you’ve never played against who would it be?

Daniil Medvedev: Borg and McEnroe. Borg is a true legend of our sport. He won so many titles, matches and records. McEnroe I would choose to play in the Arthur Ashe as we’d both hate it but love it after.

Barbara Schett: Who has inspired you the most?

Daniil Medvedev: I get that people will call me arrogant but it’s not at all… I always wanted to be myself and achieve something. In tennis I don’t want to copy or admire anyone… Of course I enjoyed all the Russians playing – [Marat] Safin and [Nikolay] Davydenko, I was too young to see [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov play… 

Barbara Schett: If you had a chance to meet anyone, who would it be?

Daniil Medvedev: I usually say [Leonardo] Di Caprio. I adore his movies.