Daniil Medvedev, who is to contest his first tournament as world No. 1 at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, on Wednesday said that he has matured since his loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.
In the wake of his crushing loss to the Spanish star in Melbourne — where Nadal rallied from two sets down to win a record 21st Grand Slam title — Medvedev complained about “disrespectful” fans.
However, he said at Indian Wells that those comments — which came after he was fined US$12,000 for an outburst at the chair umpire in his semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas — were made in the heat of a disappointing moment.
Photo: AFP
“It made me mature, the Australian Open,” the 26-year-old said. “I understood I had a lot to work on myself.”
Medvedev officially ascended to world No. 1 on Monday last week — days after his rise was assured when Novak Djokovic fell in a quarter-finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Playing in the Mexico Open at Acapulco at the time, Medvedev was unable to celebrate the achievement with a title, stopped once again by Nadal in the championship match.
Photo: AFP
The two could meet again in the semi-finals at Indian Wells, where Djokovic is absent due to the US government’s COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Djokovic withdrew from the tournament on Wednesday, when the women’s first-round action was under way and the men’s draw had already been made.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion wrote on Twitter that the US Centers for Disease Control “confirmed the regulations won’t be changing so I won’t be able to play in the U.S.”
Djokovic has played in only one tournament so far this year because he has not received any COVID-19 shots.
Djokovic said in April 2020 that he was opposed to needing to be vaccinated to travel.
Djokovic has said that he would not get vaccinated even if he needs to be to participate in events such as the French Open or Wimbledon.
The five-time Indian Wells champion was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Grigor Dimitrov.
Medvedev acknowledged that there was “a lot of pressure” in playing as the world’s top-ranked player, “but at the same time a lot of motivation.”
While he is to have No. 1 beside his name, he will not have the Russian flag, after tennis authorities ruled that Russian and Belarusian players cannot compete under the names or flags of their countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I want to play tennis, play in different countries — I want to promote my sport,” Medvedev said. “Right now the situation is that’s the only way I can play, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
He also reiterated his desire for peace as fighting raged for a 15th day in Ukraine.
“My message is always the same — I want peace in all of the world,” Medvedev said. “I think every tennis player is going to say the same.”
The conflict is certain to cast its shadow over Indian Wells, where a dozen players from Russia and four from Belarus are entered, along with four from Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, who was in her home city of Odessa amid Russian bombing last month, took to the court on Wednesday for a first-round match against France’s Caroline Garcia draped in a Ukrainian flag.
However, she fell at the first hurdle, saving two match points in the second set tiebreaker before succumbing 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5.
Garcia advanced to a second-round meeting with 11th-seeded US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
The other first-round winners in the women’s singles on Wednesday were: Americans Ann Li, Claire Liu, Alison Riske and Katie Volynets, Ukranian Anhelina Kalinina, Japan’s Misaki Doi, Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, China’s Zheng Qinwen, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, Petra Martic of Croatia, Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, Harriet Dart of Britain, Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, Caroline Garcia of France, Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and partner Magda Linette of Poland defeated Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Croatia’s Darija Jurak Schreiber 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 to set up a second-round match against Chinese pair Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.
Additional reporting by staff writer and AP
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