Sleeping Soundly, Medvedev Not Fixated On No. 1 Return

If Daniil Medvedev reaches the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau, he will reclaim the No. 1 spot in the ATP Rankings from Novak Djokovic. But the 26-year-old says he will not lose any sleep over it.

“It’s not something that stays in my mind nonstop. I’m not going to bed saying, ‘How could I lose it, how can I get it back?’” Medvedev said. “But I know the mathematics, read them all over the place a little bit, and it’s kind of the same like in Indian Wells.”

The four-time ATP Masters 1000 champion had an opportunity to keep World No. 1 following the BNP Paribas Open, but he lost in the third round against Gael Monfils. He is more concerned with his performance than his ATP Ranking.

“I didn’t manage to play my best there, so that’s why I lost. That’s why I lost the No. 1 spot. If I manage to play good tennis here, I think I have my chances of getting it back. But I want to try my best every day [in] every practice, every match. If it’s going to be No. 2, it’s going to be No. 2. If it’s going to be No. 5, then it is what it is,” Medvedev said. “I just want to do my best, which I tried to do in Indian Wells and here I have to do better if I want to get it back.”

Medvedev has excelled on quicker courts throughout his career, winning the Nitto ATP Finals on indoor hard in 2020 and capturing his first major title at last year’s US Open. The Sunshine Double, Indian Wells and Miami, is played on outdoor hard courts, which Medvedev says have not been the quickest.

“In my opinion, the surface, both Indian Wells and Miami, which I think is usually similar, has been really slow and like really slow, like one of the slowest hard courts,” Medvedev said. “I made some adjustments compared to Indian Wells, and I feel like I’m playing much better.

“When you play [a] Masters 1000, you play tough opponents. Even if you are playing them better, [that] doesn’t mean you’re going to beat everybody, so I’m practising hard, working hard on my game, and will try to be better than I was in Indian Wells.”

It will not be easy from the first round, as Medvedev will play former World No. 1 Andy Murray or Federico Delbonis, who was seeded in Indian Wells. But the top seed takes comfort in how he feels at Hard Rock Stadium, where he made the quarter-finals last year.

“Miami, I usually play a little bit better [than Indian Wells]. And when I came, I felt like my game was not there yet, so I tried to make some adjustments with my coach,” Medvedev said. “We were talking a lot to see how can I play better in the conditions we have here.”

According to Medvedev, the ball would fluff up quickly at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. But he feels he has adapted well in South Florida. How so?

“I want to be honest, I won’t share my secrets,” Medvedev said. “But I feel like we have done good adjustments and I’m ready to play good.”