Daniil Medvedev: I became a target after US Open win – Players' Voice

Ahead of his return to Flushing Meadows, Daniil Medvedev looks back on the accomplishment of winning the US Open, how it has changed him and his career, what came next and his hopes for the future.

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Coming back to New York will only bring back good memories, for sure. I've always loved playing at the US Open. I've always felt good and I've always played well there - except maybe for the very first years of my career. And, of course, after my victory last year, to come back as defending champion will be quite something.

Was this title difficult to digest? Honestly, I don't think so. I'm glad I managed to accomplish that. It's a big step in the life of any player. We can always discuss what is more important, between the ATP Finals, the Davis Cup, the Masters 1000, and so on. But the Grand Slam is above everything. For me, winning my first Grand Slam was only about happiness, gaining good motivation and a lot of confidence, too. Knowing that I was able to accomplish this, especially beating someone like Novak [Djokovic] in the final, when I look back on it, it makes me think 'OK, I was able to do this', and that can only help to possibly do it again in the future.

On the tour, people consider me differently now that I won a Grand Slam and became No. 1 in the rankings. I became a target, and that's normal. In fact, there are two different scenarios, one positive for me and a negative one.

If I start a match the right way, if everything works for me, sometimes I can feel that in the head of some players they say to themselves, 'Today, he is playing incredible, what can I do?' But when I don't start well, and I begin to miss, my opponents will think, 'There, I have to give everything to beat the world No. 1, a Grand Slam winner.' They want to go for a big win. Because six months later, nobody will say, 'OK, he won that match, but that day Medvedev wasn't good, or Rafael Nadal didn't play well'. No, what will remain is the fact they have beaten Medvedev, or Nadal, or Djokovic.

Over the past 12 months, a lot has happened. The Australian Open, the world No. 1 spot, my injury this spring, wins, losses... a player's life does not exist without all these things, but I take it all as experience.

If we go into the details, sure, we can find positives and negatives. The Australian Open, overall, was good for me for example. I played very good tennis there, I won a crazy match against Felix [Auger-Aliassime, in the quarter-finals], I wouldn't say that I should have lost it, but I almost did, even saving a match point.

Then there was this final against Rafa. I would have liked to do better, to win it, I was in front. Obviously, just after a loss like the one in the Australian Open final, for a few days, even a few weeks, it's hard for me. It's complicated. But once again, when I look back, I tell myself that it's experience, it's life. All this made me progress as a human being. I understood some things. I understood that, sometimes in life, things don't always go my way! So I try to see things a little differently now.

For sure, there are matches that I would have preferred to win. For example, after the US Open, I lost quite a few finals. Even I was starting to think, 'What's going on? Why, in the finals, am I not as efficient as I am in the previous matches?' Finally, recently, in Los Cabos, I managed to win in the final, against [Cameron] Norrie, a big player, who was defending champion. There again, it’s all about the learning process, It's all about experience. Whether it's a Grand Slam victory, a title in Los Cabos, losing a final, I'm happy to live moments like that.

Now, for the end of the season, I hope to live some great moments, starting with the US Open.

Will not having played at Wimbledon help me for the US Open and the rest of the year? I really hope so, although you can never be sure. In any case, it allowed me to do a big three-week preparation for the US Open and the end of the season, which very rarely happens in the middle of the year. With my team, we did a lot of work. Physically and mentally, I hope to be 100% until the end of the year.

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Follow Daniil Medvedev on Instagram (@medwed33) and Twitter (@DaniilMedwed)