Russian Daniil Medvedev, number two in the world, assured this Thursday that he still does not dare to retire to the ‘Big Three’ of world tennis, made up of the Spanish Rafael Nadal, Serbian Novak Djokovic and the swiss Roger Federer.
“It is the best generation in the history of tennis. Nobody can come close to the results they have achieved,” he said at a telematic press conference in Moscow.
The winner of the last US Open He recalled that of the last 20 Grand Slam those three tennis players have all won “except two or three.”
“I do not dare to speak of a generational change in tennis,” he added, noting that Djokovic at 34 showed in 2021 that “he can beat everyone.”
Medvedev, who resides in Monaco, stressed, for example, that Djokovic, who won three of the four Grand Slam this year, deserves to finish the season as number one in the world.
At the same time, he acknowledged that it is “logical” that Nadal, Federer and Djokovic cede their place at the top of the racket sport to other “younger” tennis players.
“It would be silly to deny it. It is something natural. It is not something that I decide. It is an evidence. They get old and now it is easier to play against them,” he said.
He stressed that both the Spanish and the Swiss ended the season “early” due to different physical problems.
“We all want to defeat that troika. And they don’t want to lose either,” he said.
Looking ahead, he commented that his goal is “to continue training hard every day to be a better tennis player and win any tournament he plays, whether it is a Grand Slam or not.”
“I want to win more Grand Slam. I also want to be number one and be at the top of tennis for many years. But you can’t win every tournament, it’s impossible,” he explained.
As for his love-hate relationship with clay, he assured that “the ideal” would be that over time he began to like playing on that surface more.
“For now I have not been able to get affectionate to him. But this season he even justified me playing in Roland Garros. I felt fresh and ready to run, “he said.
Medvedev believes that the clay court season was hurt by the coronavirus he contracted before Monte-Carlo, when he had worked with his coach to improve his performance on those courts.
“We will see what will happen in the next few years, but I want to win tournaments on all the tracks. Although I admit that for now I have not been able to achieve it,” he explained.
Without wanting to go into details, he assured that in Indian Wells he felt discomfort that led him to give up playing in the Kremlin Cup, the ATP 500 tournament in Moscow.