Medvedev also won against himself — Sportellate.it

Behind Rome’s victory there is a long path of redemption.

The audience is silent. Daniil Medvedev he is motionless with his legs spread, after having sent yet another attack from Rune across the net. A very high trajectory emerges which disappears from the TV screen. Everyone follows the ball with their eyes, and in those moments it’s as if time were struggling to proceed, slowed down. Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes takes care of restoring the natural order of things, pointing to the bounce of Rune’s ball and saying the only word the Dane didn’t want to hear: out.

Time starts running again. The public cheers and Medvedev is released. He smiles towards his corner and kneels with his arms spread. The image has a certain effect: it is the first time he has established direct, voluntary, almost intimate contact between himself and the red earth. In a moment like this, when you win a tournament, the immediate reaction is always gut.

And the fact that Medvedev, on his stomach, lets his knees give way to the surface he has always hated, perhaps means that something has changed. The triumph in a tournament in which he had never won a single game is clear proof of this.

That a player prefers one surface over another is part of the game, it is one of the main characteristics of tennis. It is no coincidence that the most important tournaments are four, one for each surface, and that the maximum goal that a tennis player can reach, i.e. the Grande Slam, is nothing more than conquering them all in the same year. Grand Slam means overcoming change, adapting oneself and one’s tennis to the ever-changing audience and playing field. In a word, omnipotence.

But Medvedev’s relationship with red clay, his visceral hatred for that surface, was so absurd as to become a veritable meme. For one of the strongest and most dominant players in the world to become so vulnerable only by playing on clay was beyond any logic. Because of course, there was also some technical motivation, such as the difficulty of sliding smoothly and the lack of some ad hoc solutions for the clay court (short ball and kick service above all), but his excellent competitive and defensive skills could also have to adapt.

His constant complaints transformed the matches into tragicomic shows that went around the world. The examples are numerous, from “I don’t want to play on this surface!” of Madrid 2021 against Davidovich Fokina, al “mamma mia Holy Italy” in Rome against Karatsev, where not even a disconsolate Rublev, who watches the match from the stands, can’t hold back his laughter.

Medvedev gave the impression of playing clay because he was forced to, like a child whose parents have told him to finish his homework before playing play, and each mistake was one more occasion to confirm to the others and to himself that that surface wasn’t for him. In psychology he is called stereotype threat: We behave in such a way that our prejudices come true.

Medvedev was hindered only by himself, from a prejudice on his game based on some facts, but really elaborated at the level of rational consciousness. Questioning yourself, admitting you were wrong, is one of the hardest things ever, especially in a solitary sport like tennis. And after all, Medvedev could have been fine like this. Despite the bad results on clay he was still among the top players in the world – in February 2022 he had even reached first place in the ATP rankings. Other tennis players also avoid clay. Nick Kyrgios for example, with a much less rich palmares than the Russian, has decided every year to skip the clay season, reappearing, if intact, on the meadows of theAll England Club at Wimbledon.

If, however, there are 13 titles of difference between the two, it is also due to the discipline that Medvedev puts in. His dedication to work, whether it’s on the field or in his head. The 2023 season looked promising. In Montecarlo Medvedev loses in the quarterfinals with Rune, then a finalist, but he also beats two clay specialists like Sonego and Zverev, despite the fact that the latter was not yet in top form. In Madrid he goes out in the round of 16 against Karatsev, then semifinalist. These are not dizzying results, but Medvedev gives the impression of being more focused, more convinced. Inside the field, the comedy of the past few years gives way to a bildungsroman that will culminate at the Foro Italico.

Ruusuvuori in the first round is mangy. Not so much for his technical skills, not up to Medvedev, but more for his typically Scandinavian seriousness. The Finn is not inclined to fight alone and forces you to play a careful game right from the start, with no loss of concentration. The break suffered in the first game of service seems to recall the 2021 script: down 2-0, complaints, controversies, a game that slips away. But not this time. Medvedev doesn’t bat an eyelid, and as soon as the opportunity presents itself he recovers the break from disadvantage. He will win 6-4 6-2.

An example of how Medvedev has improved on the surface. Strong and central serve, tactically perfect short ball, speed in moving and winning in sliding.

In the second round awaits him Zapata Miralles, the typical player who on clay is better not to meet. Spanish, serial screamer and, in his small way, surface specialist (fourth round at Roland Garros his best Grand Slam result), who between a let’s go and the other wins the first set 6-3. But even here the discussion is analogous to that made with Ruusuvuori. Medvedev loses games but not concentrationa leitmotif that will be repeated throughout the rest of the tournament, especially in the final with Rune.

Matches like this do nothing but strengthen more and more confidence in his means. Because, to be honest, her game is not changed compared to previous years. We certainly notice a greater fluidity in her movements, a key aspect of her tennis, but the substantial difference is the meditative-zen approach which it adopts at every point.

At this point there is also a little help from heaven. A constant rain that has never been seen at the Internazionali d’Italia hardens the earth. The feel underfoot is now closer to that on hard courts, Medvedev’s tennis love. There are all the conditions for a great tournament.

The luxurious round of 16 against Zverev I’m the litmus test. The German has recently returned from the injury, but in Rome he is still champion. The way he played in the first two rounds, Medvedev is the favorite and expectations are not disappointed. The first set is one-sided, with Zverev completely at the mercy of the opponent at times unplayable, as they underline in the commentary. The statistic of the match is undoubtedly Medvedev’s performance when he fields the first: 83% of points won.

The fact that the victory in the quarterfinals with the qualified Hanfmann taken for granted, says a lot about how the perception of Medvedev’s game has changed. The German eliminated Fritz, a renewed Cecchinato and even Rublev, wiping out the chances of a Soviet derby with his friend Daniil. Medvedev settles it with a double 6-2 6-2 and reserves himself a place in the semifinals, where he will meet Tsitsipas.

From now on there is no good game that holds: the Greek is the favorite, and if he were to beat him he would start again from a disadvantage in the final, where Rune, who had already defeated him in Montecarlo, was waiting for him. The match with Tsitsipas brings much more with it. Each encounter between the two of them is a new chapter in a feud that has been going on for years. Controversy about coaching e toilet break they are just the outer membrane that covers a much deeper, and in some ways obvious, core: two of the strongest players of the same generation fighting to get the better of their rival. For Medvedev there could be no more stimulating challenge. Beating Tsitsipas on his favorite surface is priceless, especially if you’re the least rated.

The themes of the game are essentially two: return placement and backhand diagonal. The former is very backward, with practically no more space behind the shoulders, the latter is very favorable, given that Tsitsipas’ backhand is particularly attackable. The mantra is always the same: maximum attention; some points and some games, even when serving, can also be lost. On the 5-5 Tsitsipas serve, a further element emerges which in fact shifts the balance. A factor that transcends the surface and is fundamental in any sport: moment management. Medvedev is a competitor with few rivals on the circuit, and when you have to push the set, here comes the break. 7-5.

Summary of what has been said. Medvedev stays behind in response even on a second serve, sets up the rally on the diagonal backhand and lets Tsitsipas make a mistake, reaching a break point. The opponent feels the pressure and immediately double faults.

In the second set the refrain is identical. When the decisive moment arrives, it is Medvedev who has the upper hand. Doubles 7-5 and final ballet in response to what Tsitsipas did to him in Cincinnati in 2022. Victory in grand style and heavy jab at the rival’s mood.

The final against Rune is a remake of the match in the quarterfinals of Montecarlo, where the young Dane had won without too many problems 6-3 6-4, demonstrating clear technical and territorial superiority. However, the fact that Medvedev’s level has grown dramatically in just over three weeks, and that the pitch makes him more comfortable reshuffles all the cards. Everything seemed set up for his redemption.

In the final Medvedev was able to raise the level again in the most important points, making the age difference with Rune count, but he mostly managed to keep the match going low rhythms. No contest to see who shoots harder, where he would have lost without a story. Rather he played with patience and long rallies, and limited Rune to a few sporadic flares that didn’t change the game. We have rediscovered Medvedev’s best tennis: his intelligence, his readings, a game in which brain and pulse merge indistinctly. There isn’t full consistency yet – the first game of service in the second set he lost to 0 – but the evident uneasiness, even just from last season, is a distant memory. Medvedev actually managed to export his best shots even on clay. 48% of points won in return on a first serve is a huge number that photographs the match, especially if we complete it with the Rune figure, which stops at 24%.

The first point is perhaps the best of the game. Medvedev responds two and a half meters behind the baseline and begins to command the exchange with deep and angled shots. He covers the field very well and doesn’t give Rune any chance to get close and attack.

And now it becomes a problem for everyonebecause the most fit Medvedev ever on earth is preparing to play the most uncertain Roland Garros of the last fifteen years, with Nadal’s forfeit and the absence of brilliance from Djokovic and Alcaraz which could open the door for him to the final chapter of the his redemption.

Even before Rune, Daniil Medvedev defeated his own preconceptions in Rome. In the interview immediately after the final victory you said: “I felt great in training. I’m happy that I proved to myself and to everyone that I can do it“. These are words that testify to the end of a tortuous and demanding psychological path. Medvedev finally redeemed, therefore, lying happy on the much hated red earth. From today maybe not so hated anymore.