‘Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic like aliens on grass,’ says Daniil Medvedev
Grass remains a tricky surface for Daniil Medvedev and he admits he still bewildered by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s success on the surface.
Medvedev produced a dogged display to come through his second-round encounter at the Terra Wortmann Open on Wednesday, beating Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 in a two-hour, 12-minute match.
The former world No 1 joked afterwards that he is still coming to grips with grass and described Federer and Djokovic as “aliens” due to their extraordinary records on the surface.
“Grass is so tough for me,” he said. “You can actually play a perfect match and lose on two tie-breaks, so it’s a little bit strange for me.
“When I see top players like Roger and Novak, from one side they can seem like aliens but you try to see the best in them, and how they are able on this surface, where it’s sometimes tricky to beat anyone, to have so many titles. Wimbledon, Halle, whatever.
“It’s just amazing and that’s what I try to watch. Happy to win and looking forward to the next matches.”
Federer, of course, won eight Wimbledon titles, 10 Halle Open trophies and had a 192–29 record on grass. Djokovic, meanwhile, is gunning to draw level with the Swiss’ milestone at the All England Club this year and has a 109–18 win-loss record on grass.
Medvedev, though, is well short of those statistics as he is 34-18 following Wednesday’s win, although he does have one title on grass – the 2021 Mallorca Championships – while he also finished runner-up at the Libema Open and in Halle last year.
The top seed will keep his hopes of back-to-back finals at the ATP 500 event alive when he takes on Roberto Bautista Agut in the last eight. Spaniard Bautista Agut beat Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 7-6 (7-2).
Nicolas Jarry provided the shock of the day as he upset second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.
But it doesn’t get easier for Jarry as he next faces Alexander Zverev after the German beat Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 to secure his place in the quarter-fianl.
“I’m very happy with today,” Zverev said. “I’m especially happy with how I returned. I think the first return I missed was in the middle of the second set, so with that part I’m very happy.
“Moving forward, it’s not going to get easier. Nicolas Jarry is somebody that has an extremely big game, extremely suitable for grass courts, but I’m looking forward to the match.”
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