‘Hard Court Specialist’ Daniil Medvedev Looks To Break New Ground On The Clay In Madrid - UBITENNIS

‘Hard Court Specialist’ Daniil Medvedev Looks To Break New Ground On The Clay In Madrid

By Adam Addicott
4 Min Read
at the Miami Open, photo by Vanni Gibertin

If Daniil Medvedev had his way the Tour there would only be hard court events in the calendar and there would be nothing to do with clay. 

Unfortunately for the former world No.1 the world of tennis is not like this. Medvedev has a somewhat roller-coaster relationship with Clay which is a surface that he is yet to shine on. He has contested 32 Tour finals in his career but only one of those has been on this surface which was at the 2019 Barcelona Open. Furthermore, Roland Garros is his worst-performing Grand Slam in terms of match wins but he has previously reached the quarter-finals. Something he is yet to achieve at Wimbledon. 

“I don’t think it will ever change,” Medvedev told reporters in Madrid about his feelings towards playing on clay. 
“The thing is that if I want to be better on clay. I have to practice more on it maybe during preseason but I have such an ability to be playing good on hard courts that it’s all about priorities.’
“Before the Australian Open I cannot say to myself that two weeks of the preseason I’m going to play on clay court because we’re not 100% sure it’s gonna help me.” 

Medvedev has previously referred to himself as a ‘hard court specialist’ during a press conference in Indian Wells earlier this year. He says he will be ‘happy’ to return to that surface which will not be until at least July after Wimbledon. 

This doesn’t mean that the former US Open champion doesn’t care about the upcoming weeks where he could add to his points tally depending on his results. His next challenge is the Madrid Masters which is slightly different to other clay events due to the high altitude. The ball travels faster and on paper, this should be a boost for Medvedev’s game. However, his three previous appearances at the event consisted of two first round defeats followed by a run to the third round. He didn’t play last year due to hernia surgery. 

“I would say it’s a little bit like Roland Garros clay where it’s kind of on a harder surface, it’s not the clay where your legs and balls go into the ground. It’s a little bit harder surface. Also altitude, so the balls are flying.” He spoke of conditions in the Spanish capital. 
“So what I see from the results of many people, I should be able to play better here than maybe other clay court tournaments. So far, I was not able to do it. But every year is a new opportunity. This year is another one, and I’m going to try to just play my best and hopefully play some good tennis.”

The results might not be there but the belief certainly is. Despite his record, Medvedev has previously beaten both Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas on the clay back in 2019. 

“When I play well I know that I’m capable of beating great guys, playing good tennis and going far in the tournaments.” He said. 
“I think the serve can be faster here (in Madrid) than on other clay courts. But still, on the clay courts the first shot after the serve is very important to prepare well for it and the movement is, for me at least, much tougher on clay with the sliding. That’s why I’m trying to work every day.”

Medvedev will begin his Madrid campaign against either three-time major winner Andy Murray or Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori. 

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