Daniil Medvedev spoke out on the timing of doping tests in what is a complicated situation for the sport as he exited Roland Garros in the opening round.
The 11th seed suffered a five set defeat to Cameron Norrie in the opening round of Roland Garros after battling back from two sets down.
Medvedev did have a break lead in the final set but was ultimately poor when it mattered most and Norrie secured victory in five sets.
Speaking after the match Medvedev was disappointed not to close out the contest and discussed how he processes defeats now, “That I didn’t manage to serve it out. I mean, kind of close match. Great fight. Disappointed to lose. He played well. I didn’t play good enough. So that’s why I lost,” Medvedev started his press conference by saying.
“I probably think it’s the same. I lost probably three times here first round in five sets. It’s always the same story. Couple of days or maybe one week, two weeks before the next tournament, I’m going to be feeling not good, I’m going to change the surface, so in your game you’re not going to feel not good, maybe next tournament is not going to be easy.
“Then you wait, work hard, and wait for the moment where it goes up again. So I don’t think necessarily changed too much. Yeah, disappointed to lose, but have 10 more tournaments this year or maybe 12, I don’t know. I need to try to play them well.”
Medvedev will hope to play well on the grass court season as he will be bidding to return to the world’s top ten at some point this year.
The former US Open champion is one of the most outspoken players on the tour and doesn’t shy away from speaking about the big subjects.
One issue that he got asked about was the timing of doping tests as there have been incidents in the past where players have been suspended for missing doping tests including Jenson Brooksby and Mikael Ymer.
Speaking about the issue Medvedev said that he has missed test in the past and it’s difficult to find a balanced situation that will help the players, “I think it depends, because you choose the time when they come. The rule is that if they decide to come, let’s say here in the press room, they have the right to do it,” Medvedev revealed.
“If they find you in the restaurant somewhere at 10:00 in the evening, this never happened to me, but they have the right to do the doping test if they know it’s you. So it’s tricky if you lie to them and tell them it’s not you, maybe — but anyway, that’s way too far of a discussion. This never happens. For me, it’s the same. I usually like it’s tough to know the timing in the evening, do you go dinner, not, so usually we put in the morning.
“If you have practice early, let’s say you leave the hotel at 8:00, usually put from 6:00 to 7:00, because you’re scared that if you put from 7:00 to 8:00, if they come at 8:00, you lose your practice, because maybe you don’t want to pee, and then at 10:00 you only pee and leave the hotel and you lose a day. Usually it happens early. I think that’s why, because it never happen to me that I have my time slot at 10:00, and suddenly someone is at my door at 6:00.
“I had two missed tests, because it’s actually very tricky. People think, oh, how can he miss it? Well, try traveling 25 countries a year. Try not to forget one date that you’re not in Monaco but in Paris already and change it. So, yeah, it’s not easy, but it is what it is.”
