Ehe Russian Daniil Medvedev, number 1 in the ATP ranking, assured this Tuesday that to identify the Spanish Rafa Nadal, the top winner of Grand Slam tournaments (22), the fair word would be “amazing”.
“To identify Rafa I have one word: amazing. He is an amazing fighter, an amazing warrior and an amazing person, with great mental strength.”The winner of the 2021 US Open, who is in Mexico to play the Los Cabos Open, told Efe.
Last January, the man from Manaco became the first tennis player with more than 20 major wins and he did so by defeating Medvedev in the final of the Australian Open. Referring to that, Daniil explained that, of course, he wanted to win, but outside of that emotion, he thought it was great that Nadal made the record for him. “It was a great match; at Roland Garros he increased his Grand Slam titles to 22 and I was happy, as I was happy with Nole (Novak Djokovic), when he made 21 at Wimbledom.”he asserted.
Medvedev acknowledged that being number 1 does not prevent him from enjoying tennis like when he was a child, although he does it in a different way because wins and losses arouse feelings. “Sometimes it’s not easy to enjoy; there are good games, bad games, but it can be done,” he explained.
Los Cabos will be for Medvedev the start of the tour prior to defending his US Open title; this week he will try for his first title of the season in the Mexican tournament and then he will look to perform well in the Master 1,000 in Montreal and Cincinnati to reach the main objective in his best shape.
“It’s hard to compare my sports form today with last year at this point because every year on tour something changes. My body is changing, my tennis too; 2021 was good and I am confident that I am starting the best part of my season.”he pointed.
If he defeats Australian Rinki Hijika, racket number 224 in the world, on Wednesday, Daniil will add his 250th victory as a professional. Referring to that, he recognized that the best of all was that of the final against Djokovic last year at the US Open because it gave him his first title in a Slam. “It’s a bit obvious, that’s the one I remember the most. There are two other wins that I appreciate a lot, against Rafa in the London 2020 ATP Finals semifinal and hours later against Dominic Thiem, in the final. In both matches I was down, in Nadal’s with match point against and I played good tennis in the third set,” he said.
Medvedev defended the idea of maintaining an attitude of humility on tour and recognizing that there will always be things to improve because otherwise there will be a setback. “One must resolve to be better every day, work hard. If you stop, everything will end; I don’t think I have obsessions as a player, but if I have one it’s training hard,” she concluded.
