Daniil Medvedev says he is reigniting his love for the grass which he admits was once his favourite surface to play on.
The US Open champion headlines the field at this week’s Terra Wortmann Open in Halle where he will be seeking only his second Tour title on the grass after Mallorcja last year. This week marks Medvedev’s return to world No.1 with last year’s French Open points dropping off, which resulted in rival Novak Djokovic falling down to third place.
On the eve of his return to world No.1, Medvedev was stunned by Dutch underdog Tim van Rijthoven at s’Hertogenbosch who was ranked outside the top 200 at the time of their meeting on Sunday. The last time he lost to a player as low as that was back in January 2018.
“I am happy to be right at the top again, and have really earned it, too,” Medvedev told reporters in Halle.
“The world rankings covers 52 weeks and not only one, otherwise we would have a new number one all the time,” he added.
Despite the wobble, Medvedev is confident that he is heading in the right direction. He is yet to win a title this season after also finishing runner up at the Australian Open where he lead Rafael Nadal by two sets before losing. Overall, he has won 22 out of 30 matches played so far this year coming into Halle.
“I am getting stronger on grass and I’m very happy about that because grass used to be my favourite surface.” He said.
“I can bring my game better to the fore.”
“I like the lawn. I have a lot of potential there and I am continuously improving.”
Unfortunately for the 26-year-old he will not be able to test his current form at the most prestigious grass-court tournament – Wimbledon. Russian and Belarussian athletes are banned from playing this year due to the Ukraine war. Triggering retaliatory action from the ATP who has removed the allocation of ranking points at the Grand Slam. A move which ironically will help Medvedev extend his stay at the top of the rankings.
On the court, the Halle top seed will begin his campaign against David Goffin who was runner-up in the tournament to Roger Federer back in 2019.
“David is dangerous on grass – that is a real test to start with,” Medvedev previewed.
Should Medvedev win the Halle title he would be only the second player to do so whilst ranked No.1 after Federer.