Daniil Medvedev was full of praise for Novak Djokovic on Sunday, believing that the Serbian superstar is gaining more respect for his record-breaking career.
“I have the feeling that people [are] starting more and more to… respect what he has done in tennis more and more, because he continues to beat the records,” said Medvedev, after he lost to Djokovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Rolex Paris Masters final.
“Only this year he beat the records for being No. 1 for most weeks, 310 it was, and now it's much more [345]. He got to 20 [Grand] Slams [and] almost [completed] a calendar Slam.
“There are going to be new people coming to tennis [in the future] who are just going to read in Wikipedia, or whatever, what were the results, who was the World No. 1 for most weeks, for most times in the end, and they are going to see Novak everywhere. That's when people are going to start to understand, ‘Okay, that's amazing what he has done.’”
Medvedev has also enjoyed a strong season, which includes the US Open (d. Djokovic) title, and having seen Djokovic embrace his children after the final in south-west Paris, the Russian star also praised his wife, Daria, who watched courtside.
“She helps me a lot,” said Medvedev. “She knows I support her in many ways. So we enjoy being with each other, we enjoy living with each other, we love each other, and that helps me on the tennis court. It's as easy as that. She will not teach me to play forehand or backhand, but she's going to give me some mental strength and mental stability to be a better tennis player.”
When asked what it would have meant if he’d beaten Djokovic for a second time in a row, Medvedev was quick to admit, “It's impossible to have any upper hand psychologically speaking on him.
“But this could be the case for me as well. If we take for instance the last weeks, I lost against Grigor [Dimitrov], [Andrey] Rublev and Novak. So the next time that I will play these three opponents this question shouldn't be raised. 'Will Daniil be affected psychologically?' No.
“When I played Novak, I knew that he would try to take his revenge. What was at stake was not the same. Of course, I'm not talking about the prize money here. I could feel he really wanted to win no matter what, and this is what competition is all about.”
The 25-year-old, who had trained with Djokovic at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Nice prior to the Rolex Paris Masters, will next compete in Turin at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is the defending champion. The prestigious season finale, which features Djokovic, Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz, takes place at the Pala Alpitour from 14-21 November.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3kdvHps
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