Daniil Medvedev in Rome surprised himself: ‘I hated the earth’

A victory that surprised even its protagonist.

Daniil Medvedev is enjoying his victory at the Internazionali d’Italia after his 7-5, 7-5 triumph over Holger Rune. It was a first for him, who in hot remarks after his triumph in Rome admitted that he did not expect to get this far. Especially since the victory came on clay, a surface he has never felt comfortable with.

“I always wanted to believe in myself and do my best. At the same time, however, it surprises me to win a Masters 1000 tournament on clay,” Medvedev admitted hot on the heels of beating Rune. “That’s because I’ve gotten used to hating this surface. After Monte-Carlo, however, I started to feel pretty good. I had lost to Rune, who had played better than me, and I arrived in Rome feeling really good.”

“I can’t say exactly what happened. But I felt really great. I then gradually found more difficult opponents, and now I’m really happy that I was able to beat them. This match, for example, was difficult,” Medvedev admitted. “So much so that we both started by playing nervously and making a lot of mistakes.

“At the end of the first set I made a breakthrough, then in the second set he did. So I told myself I didn’t have to think too much, I tried to reach his level, and from then on it was a really good match,” concluded the Russian, newly ranked No. 2 in the ATP world rankings.