Medvedev: “I don’t have the same confidence on clay”

Daniil Medvedev made self-criticism after his defeat against Ricahrd Gasquet in the Geneva tournament in which was his return to competition after the hernia operation that has kept him out of the circuit in recent weeks.

In the press conference after the match, Medvedev assured that he did not do things well and that it was difficult for him to turn the game around. “It’s tough, I don’t play my best tennis on clay courts. I know that I am capable of great results as I have done before. But for this I need to do things well, and today I have not done them. When I’m not focused on the hard court, sometimes during a tournament or during a match, I try to turn it around and sometimes it doesn’t happen. On clay it is much harder and, from what I remember from many matchesI’m losing because it’s hard for me to change things unless I do it right away, and that’s what happened today.”

The Russian also acknowledged that he made numerous mistakes and that a lack of confidence on clay weighed him down. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes and a lot of double faults. I didn’t play well enough to win. I had little moments in the second set where I could have won it. But, as I said, I don’t have the same confidence on clay as I do on other surfaces., and so I lost 7-5 in the tie-break, finishing with a double fault. It’s disappointing, but I’ve had tougher losses in my career and I need to try and do better next time.”

However, Medvedev hopes to arrive at Roland Garros in shape and assured that physically he is fine, although he hopes to recover the game that he usually plays in top form. “Physically I didn’t feel bad today. I think I have more days to train and I should be ready for Roland Garros because physically my body feels good. We’ll see how I am tomorrow (for today) morning, because I haven’t played a tournament for a month and a half or maybe two months. I hope I feel good. I have several days to continue training before Roland Garros, so I will continue working on the physical aspect and my tennis. I hope to find the game I had last year again, but it won’t be easy.”