Daniil Medvedev believes he can pose a danger at next week’s French Open but has refused to label himself as one of the favorites for the title.
The world No.2 returned to competitive action at the Geneva Open on Tuesday for the first time since March after missing most of the clay swing due to a hernia operation. Medvedev lost his comeback match 6-2, 7-6(5), to French veteran Richard Gasquet who hadn’t beaten a member of the world’s top two since 2005.
Inevitably there were signs of rust from Medvedev given his recent absence from the Tour but he believes he is heading in the right direction. He will now work further on improving his game heading into the Grand Slam.
“I don’t play my best tennis on clay courts. I know that I’m capable of making some good results, as I did in the past. But for this I kind of need to be in the zone,” news agency AFP quoted Medvedev as saying.
“I don’t feel as confident on clay as on other surfaces, that’s why I lost 7/5 in the tie-break finishing with a double fault. It’s disappointing but I’ve had tougher losses in my career.
“Physically I felt not bad. With more days of practice, I should be ready for Roland Garros.”
The French Open is Medvedev’s worst Grand Slam in terms of matches won in his career. After losing in the first round four years in a row, he broke new territory in 2021 by reaching the quarter-final stage before losing in straight sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas. His win-loss record at Roland Garros currently stands at 4-5.
“I haven’t played for a month and a half, two months. I’m going to try to work both physically and tennis-wise and hopefully I can find the game I had there last year — which is not going to be easy,” he said.
The 26-year-old has played in the final of 23 Tour events but only one of those was on clay. That was at the 2019 Barcelona Open where he lost the title match to Dominic Thiem. Furthermore, only three out of his 29 wins over top 10 players have occurred on the surface.
With only one match under his belt heading into the French Open, Medvedev admits that it is a bit unknown about how he may perform. Although should the Russian managed to find some rhythm in his game, he believes a solid run is possible.
“Clay for my body is the most dangerous surface. For me it’s clay courts — every time, every year I have some problems where I cannot be 100 percent,” he explains.
“I’m not a favourite for Roland Garros but I do want to play well. If I can find my level again, I can be dangerous.”
So far this season Medvedev has won 16 out of 22 matches played with his best result being runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. In February he became the first player outside of the Big Four to become world No.1 since Andy Roddick in 2004.
In French Open history only one Russian man has won the singles title which was Yevgeny Kafelnikov back in 1996.
