Daniil Medvedev recollects earliest recollections of taking part in grass-court tennis forward of Wimbledon

By India Today Sports Desk: World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev mirrored on his early encounters with fellow stars Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev throughout his junior grass-court tennis days forward of the upcoming Wimbledon.

Medvedev acknowledged the unimaginable expertise displayed by Kyrgios and Zverev at a younger age, with Kyrgios in the end successful the event towards Zverev within the 2013 ultimate. Medvedev, who misplaced to Kyrgios within the second spherical, admired their performances and thought of them “two junior legends.”

“My first time on grass was when I played junior Wimbledon [in 2013],” Medvedev informed ATPTour.com. “There was a tournament beforehand in Roehampton, where they also play qualies for Wimbledon. I actually lost to Nick Kyrgios [in the second round], and he won the tournament against Sascha [Alexander] Zverev in the final.

“They were really amazing at their age. I was nowhere close because they were very young when they went on the professional Tour, into the Top 100 and started playing the best in the world. I remember them playing the final. I think I actually even watched it, and it was just like watching two legends, two junior legends, play.”

While Medvedev took extra time to ascertain himself among the many ATP Tour’s elite, he now boasts extra tour-level titles than each Kyrgios and Zverev. With 20 titles to his title, Medvedev surpassed Zverev’s file of 19 titles along with his victory at Rome in May, which marked his first ATP Tour crown on clay.

Despite his success on varied surfaces, together with grass (successful the Mallorca title in 2021) and clay (Rome 2023), Medvedev believed in his talents on exhausting courts. He thought of exhausting courts as his strongest floor, on condition that he has received a Grand Slam and 5 Masters 1000 titles on that floor. However, Medvedev acknowledged his enchancment on clay and grass and goals to carry out effectively and win on all surfaces.

“I still believe the most in myself on hard courts because that’s still where my biggest titles are,” mentioned Medvedev. “One Grand Slam, [five] Masters 1000s. I was never able to achieve kind of close on other surfaces, [but] I know that I can play well, finally, even on clay. Winning a Masters 1000 [in Rome] was unbelievable. There are some amazing clay-court players that never won a Masters, so it’s just unreal.

“I know that I can play well on grass. It’s just there’s something that I’m much more confident about myself on hard courts. But whenever I play, no matter the surface, I always try to win. I always try to be the best even if sometimes it doesn’t work. And that’s what I try every year on the clay and grass, even if I like hard courts more.”

As Medvedev prepares for the 2023 Wimbledon, he enters the event with an 8-4 file on the prestigious grass-court occasion. Last yr, he achieved his greatest end result at Wimbledon by reaching the fourth spherical.