Serena Williams' ex-coach explains Daniil Medvedev's continued poor results on clay
Renowned tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently scrutinized Daniil Medvedev's clay-court prowess and also weighed in on the Russian's lack of confidence in playing on clay.
Medvedev won his fourth ATP singles title of the season last week at the Miami Open, beating Jannik Sinner in the final. The former World No. 1 has been in sublime form since the Australian Open. He has reached the finals of all the tournaments he has played in, losing just one.
However, the 27-year-old recently spoke about his abilities on clay after Jannik Sinner hinted at the former's performances on clay. At the post-tournament press conference, the Italian jokingly reminded Daniil Medvedev about the upcoming clay court season. The Russian stated that would try to do well on clay.
"It's a pity it is clay season next up, but I am going to try," he said.
Mouratoglou, who has coached the likes of Williams, Simona Halep, and Holger Rune, turned to Instagram to explain the possible reasons behind Medvedev's poor record on clay. The tennis coach highlighted the Russian's lack of confidence as one of the reasons behind his poor results.
"I think that Daniil Medvedev struggles that much on clay for 2 main reasons. The first one is mental. He has decided that clay is not for him, and he said it a hundred times. It's impossible to achieve something big when you think you are not good at it," Mouratoglou said.
Mouratoglou continued by talking about the former US Open winner's technical abilities on clay. He explained that Medvedev's restrictive movement on clay makes it worse for him. He further added that the Russian can still learn to improve his movement on the surface.
"And secondly, there are also technical reasons. He doesn't move well on clay. I think he can learn. Of course, for sure, he can learn. But for the moment, he doesn't feel comfortable. It's difficult to be anchored in the ground, to be able to hit the best shot possible. And if you look at his game, it's based on movement so much," Mouratoglou said.
The Frenchman also pointed out that, Daniil Medvedev's best shot, his backhand is not good on clay.
"And the second thing, is this ball quality on clay when you play flat, the ball is not as low. First of all and there is not much quality and it's easier to attack. I think his forehand has quality on clay, his backhand is less and that's his major shot is backhand so that's why he is hurt," Mouratoglou said.
Daniil Medvedev reached the semifinals of the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters
Daniil Medvedev is set to kickstart the clay court swing of his 2023 season at the Monte Carlo Masters 2023. The Russian dominated the hard courts following his early exit from the Australian Open.
He missed the Monte Carlo Masters 2022 as he had to go under the knife for his hernia. In 2021, Medvedev withdrew from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. In 2019, his last appearance in Monaco, he reached the semifinals, his best result in Monte Carlo.
The 2021 US Open winner beat Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic to reach the last four. Up against, Dusan Lajovic, the Russian lost 7-5, 6-1.