Daniil Medvedev says he had no problem with the decision to suspend his fourth round match against Hubert Hurkacz on Monday due to poor weather.
The world No.2 was leading his Polish opponent by two sets to one before their clash was halted. Instead of moving their match to Centre Court, The All England Club opted to instead delay it until the following day. When play resumed Medvedev ended up losing 2-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to the world No.18. Although he says the result has nothing to do with the delay.
“It happens. We played on Court 2 and we knew it was going to be raining, so we knew we’re not going to finish yesterday,” Medvedev told reporters.
“I don’t know if there could be a discussion (to play on Centre Court on Monday), but I was happy with that decision. So I said yes straightaway to play today at 1:30.”
There has been recent criticism of Wimbledon over their scheduling of matches. Especially Emma Raducanu’s clash with Ajla Tomljanović which didn’t start until 8pm. Following the fallout organisers issued a statement defending their management of matches.
Visibly disappointed with his exit, Medvedev found little comfort in the positives of his Wimbledon run. It was the first time in his career he has reached the second round at the grass-court major. He scored wins over Jan-Lennard Struff, Carlos Alcaraz and former finalist Marin Cilic.
“When you’re second in the world, a fourth round is a really bad result. It’s a bad result. That’s it,” he stated.
“I will just continue working. I don’t have anything specific I need to work on. Just everything, just improve every day like I try to do. That’s how after you can have no regrets because when you have regrets, it’s very disappointing.” He added.
It was possible that the Russian could have clinched the No.1 spot from Novak Djokovic. Although to do so, he was required to either win the title or reach the final with Djokovic not doing so. Whilst the milestone was within reach, Medvedev says it had no impact on his mentality against Hurkacz.
“I don’t have a goal to win 21 Grand Slams and to be No. 1 in the world for, let’s say, 37 weeks. I just want to show my best, work hard and try to win as many matches as possible,” he said.
“So if I wanted to be No. 1, I needed to win four more matches this Wimbledon. I didn’t manage to do it, but it was not like even 1% in my mind.”
Medvedev now switches his focus to the Tokyo Olympics where he will be bidding to become the first male player from his country to win a gold medal since Yevgeny Kafelnikov back in 2000.
