By Chris Oddo | Friday March 10, 2017
We talked to Russia's Daniil Medvedev about his trusty Tecnifibre racquet, his decision to move to France and more in the Tennis Now Q&A.
Photo Source: Tecnifibre
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is an exciting player on the rise. The 21-year-old is inching closer to breaking the Top 50 just a few months after making his first career Top 100 finish last season. With very few points to defend between now and the middle of the summer, the Moscow native could be well inside the Top 50 by that time. We caught up with the #NextGenATP star at the BNP Paribas Open where he is preparing to take on his compatriot Mikhail Youzhny in his first ever match at Indian Wells, to talk about his relationship with his racquet and strings, his goals for the season and his favorite Instagram follow.
Enjoy Part Two of our Interview here, and click here if you missed part one:
Tennis Now: What is your favorite characteristic of your Tecnifbre T-Fight 305 racquet?
Daniil Medvedev: I love playing with it and as you can see my results are going up ever since I put it in my hands, so I just love the control and the power that it has.
TN: How long have you had this particular racquet?
Daniil Medvedev: For two years. This is the second year.
TN: How many do you bring out for a match and how many do you typically use?
Daniil Medvedev: Well I’m kind of special about this. I can use sometimes one or two racquets for a whole tournament if I make the final, but still always in my bag I have five or six racquets normally, just in case.
TN: So you are not one of those guys that needs new strings every eight games?
Daniil Medvedev: No. I don’t know. I usually like to play the whole match with the same racquet.
TN: And you don’t think many players do that?
Daniil Medvedev: No, I see almost all of them changing the racquets [during the match].
TN: Can you tell us a bit about your strings? Do you use a hybrid setup and what is your typical tension? Do you change very much based on weather, surface, and other factors or do you typically play with the same strings and tension always?
Daniil Medvedev: No I’m just using the normal Razor Code strings and tension depends on the tournament and on the conditions that you have, but let’s say around 23 kilos.
TN: I saw that you live with your parents when you are home in Antibes? Can you tell me a little bit about the decision to move to France, when you moved and what it has been like for you?
Daniil Medvedev: It’s because at one moment in Russia it became too hard to progress because in Moscow you have to travel [to practice] and there are huge traffic jams and many, many small things that don’t help your tennis career so normally all the Russian players that you see don’t live or practice in Russia. So my sister was living in Nice, France for like three years and so my parents decided to move there and I tried to practice at the club where I’m practicing now, and it went well so I stayed there.
TN: How old were you when you made the switch?
Daniil Medvedev: 18.
TN: So just three years ago?
Daniil Medvedev: Yes.
TN: Can you tell me a little bit about your parent’s involvement in your career. Are they athletes as well?
Daniil Medvedev: No, no not at all. When I was young my mom was taking me to all the sections, not just sport, arts, [other things]. So in one moment I was swimming in a pool and saw an advertisement for an invitation to try tennis, so I went there and when I went there and enjoyed it. They weren’t taking every child, so I don’t know how I made it but step by step I became a professional tennis player.
TN: Because you live in France now, is your French as good as your English?
Daniil Medvedev: No not at all. I understand almost everything but I don’t really speak it well.
TN: Because you live in France does that make it special to play in tournaments like Montpellier and Marseille? Do you feel at home there?
Daniil Medvedev: Kind of because I went there by car. My home is always going to be Russia, but France is like my second home.
TN: What is like to go back to Russia and player there?
Daniil Medvedev: It’s an amazing feeling because you have all the crowd for you, all your friends supporting you. You come there and you feel at home.
TN: Circling back to your Davis Cup experience, what was it like for you to compete in that event and to face a player like Djokovic, and then finally to struggle with your health and not be able to finish?
Daniil Medvedev: The week was amazing for me. The experience was really fun with the team, being with all the guys around the team, we had some really good times, all the Davis Cup juniors, ceremonies, photos, interviews so it was a really nice experience.
About the match also as I said it was one of the biggest, maybe the biggest match of my career because of who I played against. I started amazing but then I think because of the pressure or, I don’t know why but I started cramping—full body cramps—so it was disappointing that I couldn’t show all I have for the whole game but still it was an amazing experience.
TN: Last year you finished in the Top 100 and now you look like you are in really good shape to get much higher with very few points to defend between now and Wimbledon. Have you set up goals for yourself between now and the end of the year?
Daniil Medvedev: I never really set up goals I just try to play my best every tournament, every match, every point and with this I hope the ranking will come but the main goal right now is to become Top 50 and then when I get there there will be a new goal to become Top 30, and like this on and on.
TN: And lastly, why is it that you like grass better than any other surface?
Daniil Medvedev: I played last year on grass and I really liked, let’s say the atmosphere of the matches on grass and I think my game really fits well on grass and this year I’m going to make some good results.
TN: So you are really excited for Wimbledon this year?
Daniil Medvedev: Yes, yes.
Quick Hits with Medvedev:
TN: What’s your favorite city to visit?
Daniil Medvedev: Melbourne.
TN: What is your best, happiest moment as a tennis player?
Daniil Medvedev: Final of Chennai, yes. And Davis Cup against Novak, though it didn’t go well at the end it was a great experience.
TN: Best friend on ATP Tour?
Daniil Medvedev: I don’t want to answer this. It’s going to be tricky for the other guys.
TN: How many would you say want to include, about five?
Daniil Medvedev: Yes, something like this.
TN: Favorite person to follow on Instagram
Daniil Medvedev: My favorite follow, I would say Oleg Cricket.
TN: Cricket players? (interviewer showing his age)
Daniil Medvedev: No it’s a guy who goes up the skyscrapers and doing some crazy videos like crazy, crazy stuff. They are crazy videos that will blow your mind.
TN: What’s a food that reminds you of home?
Daniil Medvedev: Borscht.
TN: You are a true Russian!
Daniil Medvedev: Yes.