Gilles Cervara is experiencing a very special Australian Open 2024 from his pupil’s box. Daniil Medvedev has made two incredible comebacks with his coach celebrating in the front row. The French coach talks about the mysteries of the Russian and about the final.
The Russian’s anger on the track
“I know that when he gets angry it’s not against me, I know that he is in trouble, he can’t find a solution, and that’s why he reacts like that. I know he doesn’t expect anything special from me, but I try to make him think or give him a new idea or have another feeling. In the first set, for example, I didn’t know what to do. When he talks like that I don’t understand him because he is like 60 meters away, so I can’t hear him, I feel like he has problems. I told him like it wasn’t the time to talk about anything, just turn on the machine and play. “He was happy because he was angry, he needed a reaction, not to stay calm,” explains Gilles at a press conference at the Open the Australia 2024.
On Medvedev’s fifth sets
“I’ve heard a lot about their matches going to the fifth set. I always say that we have to analyze the different things that we can find in the game, but it is easy for your mind to focus on making those problems bigger, but in reality there is nothing. Okay, maybe it’s just a matter of time. You are going to play a lot of five-set matches, if you think about what you have to do and fight, of course you will win these matches. Unless you have a recurring thought that you are losing concentration, just play and you will win some fifth sets.”
The mystery of Daniil
“I don’t know if it’s a mystery. When I see games like this, I always think that it is possible for him. First of all, I know that no matter the situation, he always looks for a solution. At all times. I have that confidence. He also always really wants to win. These two things make me believe that he always has opportunities in any situation. The mystery comes when I ask him about his on-court play, what he was focused on, what he was able to do. I’m talking to the number 3 in the world, he’s been number 1, he’s won a Grand Slam, but I have the feeling that I’m talking to a teenager,” Cervara admits with a smile on his face.
Was it a good decision not to play tournaments prior to the Australian Open?
“After the semi-final, it is a good decision, we will see on Sunday if it remains that way. I think having played a tournament before would have helped him play better at the start of the Australian Open. That’s what I feel. Sometimes you have to choose between different situations. If we come to Australia earlier, we have less vacation. Although it does not benefit on one hand, it does benefit on the other,” says the Frenchman.
Was the 2022 final the most painful defeat for Medvedev?
“I can’t speak for him, but it was the hardest because it was in a Grand Slam and he had a lead of two sets to zero, in addition to a break point in the third. When you watch the match and know how tennis is going, you know that, even if you are close, you are still far away.”
How does Sunday’s final change those between Nadal and Djokovic?
“I would like there to be quite a difference with the others. Of course, Jannik is playing incredible tennis. He also showed it in the semifinals. Daniil played against him at the end of last year, they were tough games. In tennis terms, it will be a very complicated duel. The first final you play always makes you more tense, and that can be an opportunity that we can take advantage of by not playing against Novak or Nadal. At the same time, he still has a great player in front of him.”
2024-01-27 06:03:17
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