?It Was Painful to Play Mentally? – Daniil Medvedev Says the Surface and Balls at Indian Wells and Miami Open Did Not Suit Him

It has been turbulent past two months for Daniil Medvedev. The 26-year-old had toppled Novak Djokovic to rise to the top of the ATP rankings in February. However, his stay at the top didn’t last long. Following his third-round exit at the BNP Paribas Open, the Serb reclaimed the Number 1 spot from Medvedev.

Earlier today, the 2021 US Open champion had another disappointing outing. Medvedev lost to the defending champion, Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals at the Miami Open. With this, his chance to regain the top ranking also evaporated. After his loss, Medvedev reflected upon his time at the ‘Sunshine Double’.

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Daniil Medvedev talks about his struggles in Indian Wells and Miami

The Australian Open runner-up revealed it was not easy to play in the challenging conditions of the ‘Sunshine Double’. During a post-match press conference after his quarterfinal loss, he said, “Yeah. I mean, right now going home, recover, and get ready for clay season probably. Yeah, last month I don’t think was easy for anybody. I just tried to practice as much as I can, to practice good, because that’s my job. I tried to play some good tennis.”

Further, Medvedev added, “I’m kind of happy about the tournament in Miami in a way of tennis because I think this surface and these balls, these two tournaments, were definitely not for me like I was struggling like it was painful to play mentally. I managed in Miami to find just a little spark to try to make it work.”

Talking about his quarterfinal performance, he said, “Today was not enough, but yeah, I’m happy that I saw that I’m able to do it, but yeah, not good enough. And so actually, yeah, that was, in terms of tennis, was not easy also.”

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Medvedev hasn’t had fond memories of playing at the ‘Sunshine Double’. His best finish in Indian Wells remains a fourth-round appearance last season. Meanwhile, his most credible result at the Miami Open has been a quarterfinal appearance.

Medvedev will look to regain the lost momentum in the upcoming clay-court season. However, with Monte-Carlo Masters looming this month, he will be eager to quickly leave his disappointing results behind.

With playing clay not being his strongest suit, Medvedev needs to dig deep this spring on clay if he has to reclaim the No.1 spot from Djokovic.