There is a small pressure – Daniil Medvedev on returning to hard courts

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has admitted that there is a small pressure as he is all set to return to the hard courts in the Canadian Open. The Russian has enjoyed great success while playing on hard courts, winning 18 of 20 tour titles on these courts.

However, the 27-year-old feels there will be pressure of expectations and he needs to cope with it. Medvedev recently made it to the semifinal of Wimbledon but lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets.

It is well known that Medvedev has a potent game on hard courts and he will be looking to bring his best in Toronto. Meanwhile, Medvedev suffered a three-set loss against Nick Kyrgios in 2022 in the first round of the National Bank Open.

However, the Russian won the title in 2021 after beating Reilly Opelka in the final and he will be looking to replicate the same success.

“I love to play all these tournaments, I played them very well many times. But it’s a small pressure because I know that I want to do well here,” Medvedev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “So it’s a little bit of pressure where I’ll have to cope with it and to try to go through it. I feel like I have done it many times in my career, but it’s going to be here again and again. So I have to deal with it.”

Medvedev added he loves playing on hard courts as his body feels at home on the surface, which is not the case with clay and grass.

“I’m really happy because that’s just my favorite surface, so I feel great on it. I feel like my game suits it very well, I feel it even [in] practice,” Medvedev said. “And this doesn’t mean everything, you can still lose. In a way it’s easy to lose. There are so many players that want to win.

“But I love to play on hard courts. My body feels the best on it. So this is very important. I feel like on clay and grass, I have more things concerning my body like I would have pain here, there, probably because I would do some shots not in a good way or something like this. On hard courts I feel very fluid. So really happy. And let’s see how it goes.”

Medvedev will begin his Canadian Open campaign against Vasek Pospisil or Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi on Wednesday.