Daniil Medvedev doesn’t want Rome success to go to his head

French Open

James Richardson
May 26, 2023

World No 2 Daniil Medvedev is wary of drawing too much confidence from his Rome Masters triumph when he touches down in Paris.

Medvedev has enjoyed his best ever clay swing but doesn’t want to get ahead of himself with a tough Roland Garros campaign ahead of him.

He insists that Grand Slam tennis on clay is still a whole lot more intimidating than best of three set battles.

Medvedev arrives at the second Grand Slam of the season fresh from lifting his maiden tour-level title on clay in Rome.

Despite never having made it past the quarterfinals in Paris, Medvedev now boasts a season record of 10-2 on clay and is one of the pre-tournament favourites at Roland Garros.

As he gets ready for his first-round encounter against Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild in the French capital, the 27-year-old admitted the buzz from Rome still remains.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, in a way,” said Medvedev at his pre-tournament press conference on Friday. “But what happened in Rome was amazing, especially beating a lot of good players, you know: Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rune, Zapata Miralles, Ruusuvuori, who went three sets with Alcaraz in Madrid.

“That’s an amazing feeling, and I for sure maybe have more expectation than I usually have in Roland Garros. But I know that it’s also tricky and you have to kind of use this confidence, but not get cocky, because that’s where the danger is. Sometimes you think, ‘Oh, well, I played so well, now it’s going to be easy’. Then the first round you have problems. You can get angry and maybe lose the match.

“I have been in this situation many times, and I just want to try to play good tennis here in Roland Garros.”

Medvedev added that he has felt good in practice ahead of anchoring the draw for the second Grand Slam of the year.

“I had two practices here. I felt good. Both of them on [Court Philippe Chatrier],” said Medvedev.

“I felt good, played kind of like in Rome. It’s a little bit different here. The balls are much heavier, so I’m sure it’s going to be much more rallies than previous years. They felt really heavy for whatever reason.

“I felt good. Maybe not as amazing as in Rome, but again, it really doesn’t matter that match, and the most important is when the tournament starts.

“I think the fact that I started the year so well, without talking about Australia, helped me to just be confident in myself and kind of say, ‘OK, I don’t like clay but let’s try to do something big’.”

Daniil Medvedev