Daniil Medvedev undoubtedly feels at his best when playing on a hardcourt but it will be during the clay-court swing where the Russian could earn a surge in ranking points.
The world No.4 has already contested five Tour finals this season with the most recent being in Miami where he defeated Jannik Sinner in straight sets to win his 19th title on Sunday. To put that into perspective, the last player to reach as many finals before the start of the clay swing was Roger Federer back in 2006. Medvedev has won more matches (28) and more titles (4) than any other player on the ATP Tour so far this year.
As the in-form player on the Tour, the 27-year-old now has the challenge of trying to maintain his momentum on the European clay. A surface which has been troublesome for Medvedev in the past. He is yet to win an ATP event on the surface and only once has he reached a clay-court final which was at the 2019 Barcelona Open. Furthermore, he has only won seven matches at the French Open so far in his career which is more than three times less than what he has at the US Open (23).
Medvedev himself admits that he feels more at ease on hardcourt and says the difference between this surface compared to others is that he can still win games when he is not playing well.
“I feel the best game on hard courts, even if I know that I can play well enough on grass and clay. On hard courts I feel the most fluid. And on hard courts I can play not my best tennis but still win the matches and that’s a big difference,” he told reporters in Miami following his win over Sinner.
There is extra motivation for Medvedev to do well in the coming weeks with him only having 180 points to defend throughout the entire swing. All of which will be at the French Open. Last year he missed a series of tournaments after undergoing a hernia operation.
“I know that I can play well on clay. I beat Novak (Djokovic) once on clay. I actually beat (Stefanos) Tsitsipas and Novak in the same tournament once (the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters). That’s a pretty good achievement on clay,” Medvedev commented on his clay credentials.
“But if on hard courts like here, I feel like many of the matches I didn’t play my best tennis, but I managed to win them in the tournament. Clay court is tougher for me.
“If I don’t play my best tennis, I can lose much easier. So hopefully I can be at my best on clay court season.”
According to the ATP website, Medvedev has won 18 out of 41 matches played on the clay at ATP Tour or Grand Slam events which works out as a 44% win rate. It is the only surface where he has lost more matches than won in his career.
Medvedev is set to return to action in a week’s time at the Monte Carlo Masters.
