Roland-Garros 2021 – Men to watch: Daniil Medvedev

DANIIL MEDVEDEV

Country: russia
Date of birth: February 11, 1996
Height: 1.98 m
Weight: 83 kg
Right handed
Ranking: World No. 2

Roland-Garros and him

An endless nightmare. It’s simple: Daniil Medvedev is the only member of this Top 8 to never have won any match near Porte d’Auteuil. However, he tried four times, including three times against the French: Benjamin Bonzi in 2017, Lucas Pouille in 2018 and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in 2019 thus blocked his way. It was also against the last one that he came closest to breaking the curse, leading two sets to nothing, before finally giving in in five (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 , 7-5).

The Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, then 63rd player in the world, is his latest executioner on Parisian clay. He himself confided before landing at Roland, regardless of his status as seed number 2 for this 2021 edition, he will not approach the tournament with confidence. And the draw has also reserved for him a more than dangerous opponent in the person of Alexander Bublik.

His assessment:

Participations : 4
Titles: 0
Matches played: 4
Matches won: 0
Sets Played: 15
Sets Won: 4

Its preparation

Barely better than his record at Roland. It also started with a tile: while he was preparing to launch his earthly spring at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, a positive coronavirus test forced him to withdraw from the tournament at the last minute. He therefore made his debut in Madrid where he managed to overthrow Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round, not without having said in passing all the good things he still thought of the ocher. Then, he hung up against another surface specialist, Cristian Garin, before finally giving in in the round of 16.

In Rome, however, he could not do anything for his entry into the running against his compatriot Aslan Karatsev. Only one victory won before entering the Porte d’Auteuil side, it is a very meager booty for Medvedev who therefore did not reconcile with the clay, but perhaps relaxed in exhibition on the Côte-d’Azur at the start of the week (UTS 4). The person concerned has despite everything already achieved results on the surface: a semi-final on the Rock then a final in Barcelona two years ago. What perhaps encourage him not to give up.

Three stats to remember

234. This is the maximum total time (in minutes) spent on the court by Daniil Medvedev during an edition of Roland-Garros. In the first round in 2019, he had therefore fought 3h54 in vain against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

266. For his first participation at Roland Garros, Daniil Medvedev lost against Benjamin Bonzi who was then 266th player in the world. This is his worst loss in terms of ranking in a major Grand Slam table (the Russian was already 66th in ATP at the time).

100 %. Daniil Medvedev has won all his titles (10 in all) on hard. The Russian therefore has great difficulty in adapting his tennis to clay, but also to grass. Moreover, he has no final on grass, while he played that of Barcelona on ocher in 2019.

The big question: What result would make his tournament a success?

The question may seem provocative when we talk about the world number 2, double finalist in Grand Slam (Australian Open 2021, US Open 2019). But Daniil Medvedev’s aversion to clay is such, and his previous results at Roland Garros so catastrophic, that it deserves to be asked. Before the Masters 1000 in Madrid, the main interested party had even estimated that his goal was to win at least one match in each ocher tournament in which he would participate. Mission accomplished in Spain… but not in Italy.

If he records his first Porte d’Auteuil victory against Alexander Bublik, will he be satisfied with a second round? Maybe yes in his speech to journalists, certainly not in his heart of hearts as a champion. Moreover, believe it or not, Medvedev appeared… optimistic during his pre-tournament press briefing. “I don’t know if the balls have changed or if it’s just the conditions, but the first practice was fantastic, it felt like I wasn’t playing on clay“, revealed the Russian.

Last fall, the ambient humidity and coolness favored players capable of generating a lot of power, which he did not. On drier and therefore faster ground, his blocking qualities and his grazing trajectories in the rally could thus be more effective, as could his first serve ball. If he defeats the Indian sign in the first round and builds up some confidence, he could aim for a presence in the second week, which would be a big step forward.