Russian tennis superstar Daniil Medvedev entered a tournament as the world No. 1 for the first time in his career and he admitted he is feeling pressure to deliver at the Indian Wells Masters. Last week, Medvedev officially became the No.
1 for the first time in his career, overtaking Novak Djokovic at No. 1. Medvedev had been ranked at No. 2 since last year’s March and him replacing Djokovic was just the matter of time. Medvedev is now set to make his fifth appearance in Indian Wells.
Medvedev hasn’t had much success in Indian Wells so far in his career as his best result at the tournament came last year, when he just made the round-of-16. “I think it’s a lot of pressure, but at the same time a lot of motivation,” Medvedev said.
“I’m going to try to do my best. It’s the same every tournament you play, try to gain as many points as possible. “Here it’s 1,000 points. But of course the draw is very tough, a lot of strong players, so it’s not easy to make it”.
Medvedev reflects on the Acapulco campaign
Medvedev has played just one tournament since his heartbreaking Australian Open final defeat. Medvedev had a chance to get revenge over Rafael Nadal in Acapulco but he suffered a straight-set defeat in the semifinal.
“Playing at Acapulco… consciously, the Australian Open was by far over,” he reflected. “But I think unconsciously it still was somewhere there, especially playing against Rafa. Something was not right in my energy in that match.
Maybe it’s [because of] this, maybe not”. Medvedev was up by two sets, had a 3-2 lead and three consecutive break points in the sixth game of the third set in the Australian Open final against Nadal – but still lost.
“I think it made me mature, the Australian Open, hopefully,” Medvedev reflected. “I understood I have a lot of room to work on myself.”
