Indian Wells – A status to assume, a context to manage: For Daniil Medvedev, this is not a tournament like any other

Since the beginning of his career, Daniil Medvedev has never approached a tournament in such a particular context. For sporting and non-sporting reasons. While the conflict initiated on Ukrainian territory by his country, Russia, continues to be in full swing, the Muscovite reiterated before the Indian Wells Masters 1000 the remarks made in Acapulco two weeks ago, namely that he wished “peace”.

Medvedev, like all Russian athletes, finds himself impacted by the sanctions taken by the international community and in particular by the various sports bodies. In Indian Wells, the Russian flag does not appear next to its name in the table. Players from and the Russian Federation line up under a neutral banner. Russia could even be excluded from the next Davis Cup deadlines, and all this saddens Medvedev, a collateral victim, like others, of the war led by Vladimir Putin.

“It’s hard for me to talk about all this, because I want to play tennis, play in different countrieshe explained at a press conference on Wednesday. I want to promote my sport. At the moment the situation is such that it’s the only way for me to play, so that’s what I’m going to do. My message is always the same, I want peace all over the world.”

Regarding the Davis Cup, which he won last year with his teammates, he hopes to be able to continue playing it in the near future. “I hope it doesn’t go that farhe said. Some sports have already made these decisions. Especially team sports. But tennis is perhaps the most individual sport there isIn California, Daniil Medvedev will try to leave this heavy context to focus only on the game. But even in this area, this first Masters 1000 will not be quite a tournament like the others for him.

For the first time, Gilles Cervara’s protege will indeed enter the court with the status of world number one. A rank already threatened. On March 21, the day after the Indian Wells final, Medvedev will indeed lose the 250 points of his title in Marseille last season. However, he only has 150 units of margin on Novak Djokovic who, him, does not put the slightest point in play. In order not to come down from the throne after only three weeks of rule, he must therefore reach at least the quarter-finals in the California desert. Far from being unplayable, of course, but here is an additional pressure while the place of world number one, alone, could already weigh on his shoulders.

“I think it puts a lot of pressure, but at the same time a lot of motivationjudges the winner of the US Open. I will try to do my best, as in every tournament: take as many points as possible. Here are 1000 points to take. But of course the board is difficult, there are a lot of very strong players, so it’s not easy to doHe has three matches to win to preserve his position at the top of the standings: against the Czech qualifier Tomas Machac, then against Gaël Monfils or Filip Krajinovic in the round of 16 before a possible 8th against Roberto Bautista Agut or, why not, Carlos Alcaraz.

If he progresses smoothly until then, Daniil Medvedev will therefore be guaranteed to remain number one for at least two more weeks. He could then no doubt play with a little more liberated spirit, but the result will not necessarily be simpler. In theory, Stefanos Tsitsipas awaits him in the quarter-finals, before a possible reunion in the half with Rafael Nadal. Like in Acapulco. In Mexico, the Russian had lost in two sets (6-4, 6-4), suffering his second consecutive failure on hard against the Spanish champion, after the painful final of the Australian Open. In Melbourne, Medvedev had led two sets to nothing before losing 7-5 in the 5th round.

In Acapulco, he was still thinking of Melbourne

He admits it himself, perhaps the Australian memories still accompanied him to Acapulco. “Consciously the Australian Open was very far away, but I think unconsciously it was still there somewhere, especially finding Rafahe acknowledged. Something was wrong in this match, I had no energy. Maybe it’s because of that (the Australian Open final, editor’s note), maybe not.“

If he had to cross swords again with Nadal, who is going through an incredibly prosperous period, how will he react this time, with the added bonus of this world number one status? We are not there yet, but this third Russian-Spanish act would not lack interest.

Despite everything, Daniil Medvedev wants to believe that the experience, even painful, of this Australian final, will benefit him over time. “I think she made me more mature, believes the new boss (accountant) of the circuit. I hope so, anyway. I realized that I still had a lot of work to do on myself‘Pushing his fist on the table in Indian Wells, going for that title, he could cement his number one spot. For that reason, and for everything else, a title in California would definitely be a highlight in his career.