Daniil Medvedev admits that his biggest obstacle may be from the mental side, not the physical side when appearing in grass-court tournaments this season.
The world number 2 started the 2021 grass-court season last week in Halle before losing to Jan Lennard Struff in a shock first round.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted the 2020 season, it is the first time a Russian tennis player has played a match on grass-court after almost two seasons. Having played less matches on grass-court, he is ready to return to action at the Mallorca Open using a wildcard.
“I love playing on grass-court. I just need confidence in my game on that pitch, because we didn’t play on it for two seasons. Now, I am not the same player compared to two seasons ago,” said Medvedev who is ready to enliven the first edition of the Mallorca Open before heading to Wimbledon.
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“It’s quite difficult to say where I am at the moment, but I know I can play very well on that court. I just have to find the right balance.”
Since the world number 2 last played at Wimbledon (2019), he has become one of the players to be reckoned with by winning six titles in hard-court tournaments. Furthermore, he also advanced to the final of the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open. In addition, he became the first player outside the Top Four to occupy the top 2 rankings since July 2005.
Despite his previous success on grass, the 2020 ATP Finals champion admitted that he remains wary about playing on grass and the conditions he might face.
“When I started playing on grass, I played in Challenger events and even in ATP tournaments, although not on main court, and I can say that main court is quite slow,” explains Daniil Medvedev.
“Especially in the game I played against Gilles Simon at Queen’s Club, we went through rallies with 40 strokes every second point. That makes things a little more difficult.”
“When I train on the training pitch, I feel I can play really well because the ball is so fast. Then I entered the main court for the game and the ball stopped after the bounce, then you have to adapt to your game, so it can be difficult. But I know I can play really well on grass.”
At the Mallorca Open, Medvedev received a bye in the first round and will start the tournament against either Lloyd Harris or Corentin Moutet.
