"I'm definitely not gonna blame the court for anything I do" - Daniil Medvedev jokes about Indian Wells 2024 conditions after last year's controversy
Daniil Medvedev has promised not to complain about the court conditions at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters after his spar with the officials over the court's slowness at last year's edition turned eyebrows.
In 2023, Medvedev went off on chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani and the tournament supervisor during his third-round match over slow court conditions and used some colorful language to express his frustration.
"I’m gonna pee as slow as this court is. So you can take 25 minutes. The court is slow so I go slow, I take my time," Medvedev told Lahyani.
The Russian then sparred with officials during his fourth-round match as well. He called the court a "freaking disgrace" and went to the restroom outside the toilet break and dared the umpire to give him a time violation.
"No, no, no, no, this is not a hard court, I know what is hard court, I'm a specialist, this is not a hard court," Medvedev said.
"Should be banned from playing here. Freaking disgrace to the sport, this freaking court. And they call it hardcourts. What a shame to call this court a hardcourt. I'm going to toilet but I don't care if you give me time violation. I am going to be as slow as these courts," he added.
However, Daniil Medvedev is singing a different tune now. Ahead of his campaign at the Indian Wells this year, the Russian told the media that does not plan on complaining about court conditions this year and will accept whatever happens.
Medvedev stated that he was very confident last year, having entered the tournament after three titles on the trot. This year, he is not as confident and hopes to enjoy and prolong his time in Tennis Paradise.
"I don't know, I had a lot of confidence last year. I do have some this year, maybe a bit less because last year I won like three tournaments before this one. It was actually very surprising because first day, my first day I came here, I guess there was a sandstorm the day before I arrived. And so I went on center court, and it was lightning fast, and I was like, wow, surprising. I loved it. And then the next day it became slow," Medvedev said.
"So, let's see, I'm, I'm definitely not gonna blame the court for anything that I do, which means play bad or good or lose or win., I'm gonna enjoy it here. I love it here. I'm gonna enjoy my time here and try to prolong it as much as possible," he continued.
Daniil Medvedev is seeded No. 4 at Indian Wells 2024
Daniil Medvedev has received a first-round bye at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, courtesy of his No. 4 seeding, behind Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Medvedev is drawn in the same half as Djokovic and will face either Flavio Cobolli or Roberto Carbellas Baena in the second round on March 10.
Daniil Medvedev is defending 650 points at Indian Wells this year, having reached the final in 2023. He defeated Brandon Nakashima, Ilya Ivashka, Alexander Zverev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Frances Tiafoe before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the title contest last year.
The 28-year-old will come into the first ATP 1000 tournament of the year after an unsuccessful title defense at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Before that, Medvedev reached the Australian Open final but came up short against Jannik Sinner.