Actually, the start of the clay court season didn't go so badly for Daniil Medvedev. In Monte Carlo, the former world number one reached the quarter-finals and, unusually rarely, let it be known verbally that he liked everything else about the game on this surface.

In the run-up to the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, the crowd of journalists present wanted to know whether this could have been the start of a new level of his personal relationship with the red ashes. The short answer: "I don't think it will ever change." The long one: "I joked about it with my coach recently. Maybe in the last year of my career I'll go to him and say: `Look Gilles, we're going to prepare, we're going to only play on clay this season, so I can get better and better`", said the Russian with a wink.

Medevdev: Preparation is the be-all and end-all

With all the little serious undertones, there is a core of truth in these words: "The thing is that I have to train more in the pre-season if I want to get better on clay, but I can play so well on hard court that it is about priorities," said the Russian. "I can't tell myself before the Australian Open that I'm going to play two weeks of pre-season on clay because we're not 100% sure it will help me."

A good place for a sense of achievement on sand would have come now, as Medvedev explained. The conditions in Madrid should generally be more accommodating for the Russian: "It's a bit harder ground. Also the height, so the balls bounce higher. From what I see in many people's results, I should be able to play better here than maybe at other clay court tournaments," explained the Russian. I haven't made it yet, but every year it's a new opportunity."