Medvedev Ready For Marseille Challenge
10-Mar-2021 19:21:00 | ATP World Tour
Daniil Medvedev is ready to return to winning ways this week at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, where he will attempt to capture a milestone 10th ATP Tour crown.
In his first match since his run to the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic), the World No. 3 suffered a first-round loss to Dusan Lajovic at last week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. While that result came as a surprise to Medvedev, it did allow him extra time to prepare for his week in Marseille.
“Rotterdam was not the result I expected,” said Medvedev. “I took some days off after the Australian Open and before Rotterdam, so after Rotterdam… I was practising every day because I didn’t need any more rest.”
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Medvedev will attempt to become the third Russian to triumph at the ATP 250 and follow in the footsteps of 2001 champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and 2018 titlist Karen Khachanov. The Moscow native will be aiming to add to his collection of five indoor titles, which includes last year’s Nitto ATP Finals crown.
“I feel like I have done a good job on the practice court, physically and tennis wise,” said Medvedev. “I honestly feel good coming here. I didn’t have the chance to practise on centre court, which is normal, but the most important thing is I am ready to play good here.”
Medvedev will begin his title bid against Egor Gerasimov, the man who defeated Andy Murray in the Open Sud de France first round just two weeks ago. The Australian Open runner-up owns a 2-0 ATP Head2Head series record against Gerasimov, but he knows the challenge the Belarusian will present when they meet on Thursday.
“[Egor and I have played some] really tough matches,” said Medvedev. “Once we played a decisive tie in Davis Cup. I won, but it was really, really tight. When I won Tokyo, which was the best result for me at the time, he was the only player to take a set from me there.
“I know how tough it is to play him. I know that he is a great indoor hard-court player. I am going to have to show my best [and] play my best to win. It is good to play a first round like this to see where you are and if you are ready for the tournament.”
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