Medvedev: ‘I feel I can do big things on clay’

@Mutua Madrid Open | @atptour

Daniil Medvedev has made no secret of his dislike for clay in the past. The 28-year-old has struggled to adjust to clay at times en route to building a 29-27 tour-level career record on the surface.

However, in 2024, those feelings are no more. The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings won his maiden tour-level title on clay in 2023 in Rome and is excited to build on that triumph this year at the Mutua Madrid Open.

“I'm honestly feeling good. I feel this every year, more and more when I go to clay courts,” Medvedev said during Tuesday’s pre-tournament press conference. “When I say enjoy, I know that my game is a little bit more limited than on hard courts in terms of what I can do. And in terms of if I play a good match on hard courts, I know that 90 percent of the matches I'm going to win.

“On clay court, that is not the case. Every match is 50/50 I would call it. But I know what we can do. I have to do from my side what I want to do and I'm trying to do it and I feel confident about it, so I'm feeling good. I love the city, it's great, so I'm happy to come back here.”

Medvedev arrives in Madrid second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, having reached finals at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells this year.

The third seed made his return to clay at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this month, but suffered a disappointing third-round defeat to Karen Khachanov. The six-time ATP Masters 1000 champion is keen to put that result behind him and build his clay-court game further in the Spanish capital.

“I'm enjoying clay more and more. I have good results, good victories, and I feel like I can do big things on clay,” Medvedev added. “I want to try to win more tournaments like I did last year in Rome, try to do better in Rome and Roland Garros and for this I need to play good here in Madrid.”

In February, Medvedev added Frenchman Gilles Simon to his coaching team. The former World No. 6 lifted five tour-level trophies on clay. Medvedev gave insight into the pair’s working relationship two months into their partnership.

“He tries to bring something to my game, which maybe I thought of, but didn't understand how I should bring it on the court. And he explains how I can do it and for me then it's important because during the match you don't have time to think too much. It's more of a reaction. So I have to be very smart to not overthink what he says. Overthink it on practice, maybe, but not overthink it during the match.

“And I feel like in Monte-Carlo, because for sure we talked a lot about playing, he was there in Monte-Carlo before the tournament, I maybe thought too much about, ‘OK, next shot, what do I do?’ Where I actually had to play more. It is very interesting and for the moment I think it's working great. I'm looking forward to learning more things.”

Medvedev will face Christopher O’Connell or Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match in the Spanish capital on Friday. The World No. 4 leads O’Connell 3-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, while he holds a 2-0 advantage against Arnaldi.