World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev assessed his performance in the first part of the season.
Asked whether a good preseason could particularly help him on clay, where playing is usually the most difficult, he commented:
“It`s unknown when or if it will have an effect at all. Generally speaking, there haven`t been matches this season that I lost purely due to physical inability. In Australia, yes, but there we played a five-hour match [in the first round against Learner Tien], both physically struggled.”
“But tennis is different. I feel like I can play well right now. We`ll see if I can show it here in Madrid.”
“The start of the season hasn`t been very successful, but it`s not related to preparation. It`s unsuccessful only in terms of results; the game itself is fine. It`s just that in Doha, after winning a couple of important matches, I got food poisoning. In Miami, as soon as I found my form, my back started hurting. These things happen.”
“Usually, the better my preseason was, the better I played. Now, it`s less about training and more about confidence and winning important matches.”
