Daniil Medvedev says he has "no serious complaints" about the Olympic Village, claims Federer is "100 times more legendary" than him
Ahead of his 2020 Tokyo Olympics campaign, World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev spoke at length about a number of topics, right from the conditions in the Olympic Village to the controversial scheduling at Wimbledon.
Daniil Medvedev is the second seed at the Tokyo Games and will open his campaign against Alexander Bublik on Saturday.
Medvedev is currently staying in the Olympic Village along with the rest of the Russian tennis contingent. At the Village, Medvedev and the other athletes will not enjoy the same luxuries they are afforded while playing on the ATP tour.
Bathrooms in the Olympic Village have been pictured to be incredibly small, beds are made of cardboard, and refrigerators are absent from players' rooms.
While speaking to Telesport, Medvedev stressed he has no qualms about the arrangements in the Village even though he is used to much better conditions when playing on the regular tour. But at the same time, the Russian pointed out that he had experienced much worse when playing lower-level Futures events.
"To be completely honest, we, tennis players, are used to living at cool tournaments in five-star hotels, if you are high in the rankings, the organizers provide you with a suite," Medvedev said.
"But almost all of us went through "Futures", where you are looking for a room for 40 euros, not 50. And in order to save those 10 euros, sometimes you live in small rooms with a shower on the floor. Many of us found ourselves in such situations, so I did not see anything new for myself."
Medvedev said he is "quite comfortable" staying in the Olympic Village. According to the World No. 2, good food is a necessity at any tournament, and since that aspect is taken care of in the Village, he has no issues.
"I, in principle, am quite comfortable in the Olympic village," continued Medvedev. "The atmosphere is fun. The food is good, as for me, this is one of the most important components of a good tournament. Therefore, I have no serious complaints."
Shifting his focus to Wimbledon, Medvedev said he was not entirely happy with the decision of the organizers to keep him away from Center Court.
Medvedev did not play a full match on Center Court despite being the second seed at the tournament. On the other hand, every match of Roger Federer was scheduled on the showpiece court.
While the scheduling arrangements certainly raised eyebrows in the tennis community, Medvedev asserted he had no qualms about the Swiss receiving preferential treatment.
"Naturally, there is resentment (on not being given a chance to play on Centre Court)," Medvedev said. "I wanted to play on the that court being the second-ranked player, but there is a logical explanation for everything, so I don't worry too much. Roger is ten times...what is ten - a hundred times more legendary than I am. So it's okay."
Sometimes it is tough to overcome Novak Djokovic: Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev is widely considered the player best equipped to halt Novak Djokovic's charge and prevent the Serb from winning the gold medal in Tokyo.
Medvedev, on his part, pointed out he does not feel burdened by such expectations even though he is fully aware of the magnitude of the task at hand.
"No, absolutely (does not feel pressured)," said the Russian. "I try, again, to show my best tennis. If through this you can defeat people like Djokovic, then that's cool. Sometimes it is very difficult to overcome him - not only for me, but in general for everyone. Including even Federer and Rafael Nadal."