Indian Wells – Daniil Medvedev and the management of pressure: “Being number 1 taught me a lot”

The longer a series gets, the closer it comes to its end. The adage (with infallible logic) is well known and Daniil Medvedev should not ignore it, especially after 18 consecutive victories. Moreover, the person concerned had entrusted him after his third title in a row in Dubai: he feared that all this accumulated confidence would evaporate if he were to lose early in Indian Wells. Given his background in the Californian desert – he had never passed eighths there – it is true that he had nothing to brag about. But if he has often complained about the slowness of the court, the Russian is well at the rendezvous of the last four.

“Confidence makes the difference of course, because these are neither my favorite playing conditions nor my favorite surface.he confided in the wake of his victory in the quarter-finals. In most of my matches I haven’t been in ‘the zone’. If it hadn’t been for a bit of luck and some amazing shots, I probably would have lost again here. So I’m really happy to still be in the tournament under these circumstances and after these crazy matches to continue my streak. I can’t wait to play my half.”

Naturally, such a success attracts attention. And if all attention was focused on Novak Djokovic in Australia, then on the return to competition of Carlos Alcaraz in Buenos Aires at the beginning of February, now Daniil Medvedev has also returned to the center of the game. All observers expect to see him win, given his current momentum. And in the absence of “Djoko”, any early exit would have been considered a failure. This change of status in just a few weeks could be difficult to manage, and even thwart. And yet…

“I like pressure because it comes with results. When you go from junior to pro, you feel it. Then when you start moving from Futures to Challengers, you still feel it. So at every stage of your playing life, you feel like the pressure is immense, but a year later you realize it was relative and now it’s even greater. And that’s normal: the more you try to accomplish things – and I’m not just talking about tennis but in life as a whole – the more pressure you feel. Sometimes it comes from your loved ones, your family, other times from the fans, the media or others. And in tennis, the better you play, the more pressure you are under. So it’s great that she’s coming back for me“, he considered, philosopher.

In short, pressure is a privilege, as Billie Jean King has repeatedly said, even giving the title of one of her books. And Daniil Medvedev can all the more appropriate the credo that he experienced the pressure attached to the place of world number 1 last year. Being at the top of the ATP rankings didn’t really bother him: it was a logical and deserved consequence of his results during the previous 52 weeks. But the observation is implacable: once on the throne, he was never able (or knew how?) to play his best tennis.

The Big 3 “haters” as a lesson to focus on the essentials

His traumatic loss in the Australian Open 2022 final to Rafael Nadal is certainly a big part of that, but the weight of status cannot be discounted. “Do other players try to beat you more when you are number 1? I don’t know, but I hope not because it would be better for them if they gave their all in every game, regardless of their opponent’s rankinghe still pointed out, with a smirk. But the pressure attached to the number 1 spot, it’s obviously not easy because you know that everyone expects a lot from you. And it taught me a lot.”

And Medvedev to develop: “When you’re 20th in the world and breaking through, you love being on social media, reading comments about you, what people think of your game. And sometimes you even respond to them. But with the place of world number 1 and its pressure, the ‘haters’ arrive. Novak (Djokovic) has a lot. Even Roger and Rafa have them. And you say to yourself: ‘But how is this possible? They shouldn’t have any.’ And so it taught me to pay less attention to it and focus more on my loved ones and myself. It’s the only way to stay honest with yourself and not get unhealthy. Your coach is the only person who can tell you that you should have done things differently.”

Taking inspiration from the “Big 3” to better manage the pressure is certainly not the most incongruous idea found by the Russian. Over the past fifteen or twenty years, the Serbs, Swiss and Spaniards have created monsters and trivialized the exceptional. From their remarkable permanence at the highest level, there are bound to be lessons to be learned.

One of them is to always focus on the next point or the next game. It’s the best way to continue a series, however exceptional it may be. Medvedev therefore has Frances Tiafoe and a 19th victory in his sights, and it is not a few spotlights shone on him that will distract him.