Why Medvedev Feels A ‘Small Pressure’ Returning To Hard Courts

Daniil Medvedev has won 18 of his 20 tour-level titles on hard courts, so it is safe to say the World No. 3 is happy to be starting his hard-court swing this week at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto.

“I love to play all these tournaments, I played them very well many times. But it’s a small pressure because I know that I want to do well here,” Medvedev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “So it’s a little bit of pressure where I’ll have to cope with it and to try to go through it. I feel like I have done it many times in my career, but it’s going to be here again and again. So I have to deal with it.”

Medvedev has enjoyed plenty of success in Canada. The last time the men’s event was held in Toronto, Medvedev won, and in 2019 he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Montreal. On his Toronto debut in 2018, he made the third round as a qualifier.

“It feels amazing. I love this tournament. I remember actually playing well, even [five] years ago, I lost to Zverev, but I passed qualies, beat Felix. It was a crazy match, so very good memories so far from Toronto,” Medvedev said. “It’s actually the first time I’m staying in the city. The two times I’ve been here I was staying uptown. And actually I played in Toronto, I won in Toronto, but I didn’t know how Toronto is as a city.

“So now I get to know it. I like it. [I am] enjoying my time here and of course getting ready for for the first match.”

Seeded second this week, Medvedev will open his tournament against home favourite Vasek Pospisil or Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi. Medvedev will take the court with plenty of confidence knowing he has already won hard-court titles this year in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami.

“I’m really happy because that’s just my favorite surface, so I feel great on it. I feel like my game suits it very well, I feel it even [in] practice,” Medvedev said. “And this doesn’t mean everything, you can still lose. In a way it’s easy to lose. There are so many players that want to win.

“But I love to play on hard courts. My body feels the best on it. So this is very important. I feel like on clay and grass, I have more things concerning my body like I would have pain here, there, probably because I would do some shots not in a good way or something like this. On hard courts I feel very fluid. So really happy. And let’s see how it goes.”

Medvedev on Saturday practised with top seed Carlos Alcaraz in a well-attended session inside Sobeys Stadium. It is not often fans get to see the top two players on the same court at a tournament until the final.

“For sure, we’re not going to practise too often because hopefully we can play finals, semi-finals and more to come like two times this year already,” Medvedev said. “So usually you don’t try this every day with your rivals, but it can happen once, twice, three times per year. And it was again [a] great practice. I think we both enjoyed it. “

For now Medvedev will focus on the first match in front of him. That is the attitude that has helped him earn six Masters 1000 titles in the past.

“I’m sure I can do well here,” Medvedev said. “But for this I will need to play good tennis.”