"That's what I need to do next time, just be even more confident and play even better" - Medvedev after his quarterfinals victory in the Davis Cup
Daniil Medvedev continued his unbeaten run in the 2021 Davis Cup finals as Russia defeated Sweden 3-0 to advance to the semifinals. The 2021 US Open champion defeated Mikael Ymer 6-4 6-4 in his singles match.
At the post-match conference, Medvedev spoke about his performance, the upcoming semifinals with Germany, and whether the new Davis Cup format puts singles players at a disadvantage.
✅ Job done
@DaniilMedwed puts RTF in back-to-back semi-finals, sweeping past Mikael Ymer 6-4 6-4.
#DavisCupFinals #byRakuten https://t.co/XCqHxXblAq
Medvedev wasn't happy with how he served today, especially with the number of double faults. Nevertheless, he has won all his matches in straight sets and believes he's playing well at the moment.
"To be honest, I didn't serve as good as I wanted to today. Nine double-faults in 6-4, 6-4 is a lot. As you say, managed to get three points to the team out of three. Won all the sets I had to play, even if some of them were not easy. In general I feel like I'm doing what I have to, playing quite well."
One has to up their level the deeper they go into a tournament, and Medvedev knows he'll need to do just that and play with even more confidence.
"Yeah, the further you are in the tournament, the better you have to play, the better players you will face. That's what I need to do next time, just be even more confident and play even better."
Medvedev elaborated on his serving woes, conceding that high altitude can make controlling the ball difficult. He was also playing after a gap of three days and stated that while having a rest and enjoying time with his team was nice, playing again after so long makes it feel like a new tournament.
"I mean, first of all, it's not that easy to serve here because high altitude. So, yeah, the balls, it's tougher to control. Then we had three days off after our last match. I don't think I ever had three days off in a tournament, so it's not easy to face it. It was nice, we spend a lot of time with the team, very fun. But to come back to play a match is not easy. Feels like a new tournament."
During his day off, Medvedev intends to work on his serve but doesn't seem too worried about the double faults. He also admitted he needs to serve better in his next match.
"Yeah, we'll work a little bit on this tomorrow, have a day to work on this. We're going to do a little bit more second serve than I usually do. I feel like I'm not somebody who double-faults a lot even if I try sometimes to go for it. I don't see that big of an issue. But, yeah, definitely has to be better than today."
Medvedev doing Medvedev things 👀
#DavisCupFinals #byRakuten https://t.co/38NpTdNsDg
Daniil Medvedev feels the new Davis Cup format puts singles players at a disadvantage
Daniil Medeved conceded that it's a disadvantage for better singles players in the new 3-set format. But at the same time he admitted that percentage-wise, the chances for an upset remain the same.
"Yeah, answering your question, it's definitely a disadvantage for better singles guys to play out of three. At the same time how many ties we saw out of five where there were crazy sensations, especially when it was five sets before. I feel like it still stays the same percentage-wise chance of sensation. Sorry, upset, not sensation. In Russian it's sensation (laughter).
Medvedev will most likely go up against Jan-Lennard Struff in the semifinals. He's had some tough matches against the German this year, though both of them were on grass.
"Definitely. If I talk about myself, probably will play Jan-Lennard. Of course, we never know in Davis Cup, but we're the first in the teams. I had some tough matches against him this year, both on grass. I don't think we played anywhere else."
Medvedev praised Struff's performance against Cameron Norrie as it was a must-win match for the German. The lanky Russian appreciated the way Struff played in the difficult moments and expects a tough battle in the semifinals.
"Definitely big serve, going to the net a lot. I actually watched him against Cameron, almost the whole match, not because we were going to play them but because I was in the room. I really liked the way he played because there were some tough moments. They were 1-0 down. The way he brought the team back was really strong. So expecting a tough battle," he concluded.