Last Updated on October 31, 2021
Russian Daniil Medvedev prepared well for the main grass tournament, Wimbledon, having had a great tournament at Mallorca where he won his second trophy of the year beating American Sam Querrey in the final.
In the first round of Wimbledon, Daniil had a very uncomfortable opponent from Germany, Jan-Lennard Struff, but the Russian managed to defeat him in four sets.
Medvedev moves on ➡️
The No. 2 seed battles past Struff 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(3). #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/UMtMyViRgS
— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 29, 2021
In the post-match interview with Eurosport, Daniil commented on his success in the first round of the competition.
A worthy opponent in the first round
– Struff is known as an expert on Russian tennis players. How did you prepare for the match against an uncomfortable opponent?
– Yes, Jan is an uncomfortable opponent for all the top players. With Jan it’s almost impossible, because he serves really hard, he is running to the net, he tries to play one-sided. You have nothing to do but try to circle, play the court and keep it on the back line. If you’re not in good shape, it’s very hard to do that. In Halle, not used to grass, I couldn’t do anything against it even though I had my chances.
Here I felt better in the first two sets – it helped a lot, he couldn’t get into the game till the end. Everything was going according to plan, but he played very well in the third set and I couldn’t support the rise in his level. Very happy with the fourth set, where I think I had a little more chance to break him and I was able to take him on the tie-break. But it’s a very tough match and I think it’s very tough if you look at the stats.
– It was your first Wimbledon match in two years. Tell us about the feeling – you played under the roof, which doesn’t happen often for you in England.
– It’s cool, it’s the first time I’ve played under the roof on grass. It was pretty cool. The roof is very well done, it’s transparent, you don’t have to play with the lights on, it’s like being in the hall at all. Really liked the atmosphere: lots of spectators, everyone cheering, so it was cool. It’s only been one year since Wimbledon, and it feels like ten, like you’re getting to know everything all over again. Where to go, the bollboys are a little different. Tradition, naturally, and you have to get used to it all over again in a way.
– The matches weren’t finished on Center Court – Mannarino got injured, Serena fell on the court and couldn’t finish the match. How well have you adjusted to the grass surface and have you had any problems specifically on Centre Court?
– This is not an advertisement, but I fell on grass a lot before that. At least once per match I fell, and it was dangerous. When you fall on grass, you can’t control your fall, so injuries can happen. This year, phew, phew, phew, so far I’m hanging in there – Lacoste made some cool sneakers. Ian fell down – once I remember exactly, maybe twice. The weather is like this – rain, humidity, cold. It’s impossible for the grass to be dry. But I’m doing great, I hope I’ll continue to do so without falling and in the literal and figurative sense
Medvedev’s Motivation
The tournament press service also managed to find out from Medvedev what motivates him to win more victories.
I just want to get better. People ask me about rankings, but you have to win more than just the Masters. Without the Slams, you can’t do anything. If you win three Slams in a year, you’re world number one. But I’m just thinking about every next match
Daniil Medvedev
In the next round of Wimbledon Daniil will play the winner of the match Yasutaka Uchiyama vs Carlos Alcaraz
