By Chris Oddo | Thursday March 9, 2017
We caught up with #NextGenATP star Daniil Medvedev at Indian Wells to talk about life on the tour and why the future looks bright.
Photo Source: Tecnifibre
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is an exciting player on the rise. The 21-year-old is inching closer to breaking the Top 50 and he's currently ranked 2nd in the ATP's Race to Milan, behind only Alexander Zverev. With very few points to defend between now and the middle of the summer, the Moscow native could be well inside the Top 50 by the time the summer Slams roll around.
Visit Daniil Medvedev's Tecnifibre Profile Here to Learn More
We caught up with the #NextGenATP star at the BNP Paribas Open where he is preparing to take on his compatriot Mikhail Youzhny in his first ever match at Indian Wells, to talk about his relationship with Tecnifibre, his goals for the season and his big Russian family on tour.
Enjoy Part One of our Interview here, and check back tomorrow for the second half:
Tennis Now: You have climbed so high in the rankings this year ( 58 ALREADY) and still you have only just played your first main draw match at a major this year in Australia. Is that one of the things you look forward to most, playing and having success at the majors?
Daniil Medvedev: Yeah of course, for every tennis player the Grand Slams are the most important event, so I hope to do better in the next ones.
TN: Last year at this time you were playing Kazan Challenger. Do you remember that?
Daniil Medvedev: Yes, I don’t remember the time exactly but I remember the tournament.
TN: This year you are main draw at Indian Wells, and already with more ATP wins in two months than you had last year. Are you surprised that your success has come so rapidly?
Daniil Medvedev: Well I am surprised in a good way because I have been working for it and I am playing good tennis right now. Hopefully I will have even more this year—every tournament I play I try to show my best tennis. Of course I am really happy about it.
TN: Last year you finished pretty well and ended up just inside the Top 100. Did you feel like something good was going to happen for you this season?
Daniil Medvedev: No not really. As I said I didn’t expect to climb that fast but I didn’t have any points to defend, so that was my advantage over all the others, and I still have not a lot to defend until the end of summer, so I can push at this moment.
TN: What are your initial impressions of the atmosphere at Indian Wells? Does it seem like a special place to you?
Daniil Medvedev: Yeah it’s my first time here and it’s a very good tournament, really nice atmosphere, nice nature, nice hotels, just everything is cool over here.
TN: Last year you faced Youzhny in Bangkok, this year on a bigger stage. Are you excited to measure yourself against a fellow Russian one year later?
Daniil Medvedev: Yeah, we know each other very well, we practiced a lot even after my loss because I see him at a lot of tournaments, so it’s going to be a good match and hopefully I can get my revenge.
TN: So you know Mikhail really well? Which other Russian players are you friendly with?
Daniil Medvedev: We are all friends in Russian community, but I have been playing since my childhood with Karen (Khachanov) and Andrey (Rublev), and we are best friends for sure, but then all Russian players really get along well with each other, also Ukrainian and Belarusian, Russian speakers, so it’s like a big family.
TN: I saw you mentioned once that you really liked Marat Safin when you were growing up. Ten years ago, which players were you watching a lot on tour, not just the Russians. Any other heroes?
Daniil Medvedev: I never really had an idol but I always like to watch tennis especially in the later stages of the Grand Slams or Masters 1000s, of course it was almost all the time the same guys like Roger or Rafa and I like to watch Safin and Davydenko compete with them and sometimes win or make an amazing result.
TN: Have you had much practice time with some of the bigger stars like Roger, Rafa, Novak and Andy?
Daniil Medvedev: Not really a lot. I practiced with Novak several times because he is in Monaco and it’s close to where I am and sometimes we manage to practice with each other, and then one time I had a practice with Roger in Australian Open.
TN: Do you find that those practices have been helpful for your progression?
Daniil Medvedev: Yeah, of course. Just to hit 10, 20 minutes, it’s a big experience for you just to get to know something from these guys, to see how they practice, see how they warm up—everything.
TN: The ATP has introduced the #NextGenATP finals this season to be held in Milan in November. You are currently No.2 in the race. How excited are you to possibly qualify for this and how excited are your fellow players that the ATP is putting this together for young players?
Daniil Medvedev: It’s a great opportunity for all of us to first of all show ourselves, also it’s big prize money and also if you get into the Top 7 of the young generation especially this year it means that you will be I’m sure in the Top 100, maybe even you have to be Top 80 to do this. It will be a great achievement and it will show how good you competed this year. And the tournament will be fun so we’re all excited to get there and play there in front of the crowds.
TN: Last year you won the Young Guns competition which was hosted by Tecnifibre. Can you talk about how important this was for you and how important working with Tecnifbre has been for the development of your professional career?
Daniil Medvedev: It was a really great experience to go there also. It showed that I made a good year and they chose me for this. And after I stayed there and watched the final between Novak and Andy and those were also some great memories.
TN: Would you say that was a good learning experience, being around that event and those top eight players?
Daniil Medvedev: I didn’t talk to them or practice with them so I just saw a few matches, but of course being around there, I mean everyone dreams to be there. Unfortunately I was not as a player but I hope to be there one year.
TN: Besides providing you with racquets, strings, bags, how else has Tecnifibre helped you improve your career?
Daniil Medvedev: Of course Tecnifibre is doing a lot of things like the Young Guns Competition and this winter for preseason we went to Britannia for one week and we spent some fun time with other Tecnifibre guys doing some things in the ocean (see video above), just some physical exercises, just to relax from tennis. Yes, Tecnifibre is doing a lot of things like this and it’s really a big family which helps you all the time.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our interview with Daniil Medvedev tomorrow!
Visit www.tecnifibre.com for more info.