Daniil Medvedev has to stop saying he hates sand, says Alex Corretja
Daniil Medvedev and the red ashes - so far not a love affair. Ex-French Open finalist Alex Corretja has an idea why that is the case.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 24, 2021, 03:49 pm
Daniil Medvedev's sayings about the clay court are legendary. "There's nothing I like about this surface. The ball bounces differently, you're very dirty after the games. I really don't enjoy playing like that," he complained in Monte Carlo . In Madrid he scolded : "I think my punches, my movements and my physical demeanor don't match Asche. I hated everything around me for the first week on clay. I just hate being on the court."
In the game against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina he shouted after losing the first set : "I don't want to play on this surface!" And after he was asked by the referee not to abuse the course with his club, because otherwise he would destroy it, he said: "It's already broken. It's a bad surface. I can't damage a bad surface."
Medvedev's record is therefore not surprising: it has three games, two defeats so far in 2021, and the prospects for the upcoming French Open are not the best. Medvedev has not won a match in four appearances at Roland Garros.
Sandman Alex Corretja now explained what he would advise Medvedev first: If he were Cristian Garin or Albert Ramos, a player who can be hit very hard on sand, he would just let him run from the first point, according to the French -Open finalist from 1998 across from tennishead.net . Then Medvedev would get so angry because he didn't like sand.
Corretja advises Medvedev to take a different approach to sand
"First of all, he has to stop saying that he doesn't like sand," Corretja continued. "If I were his coach I would say, okay, you might not play as well on clay as you do on hard court, but you are still very competitive, a great fighter, you have a good serve. And your backhand is good enough for that To hurt opponents. "
Corretja has also identified a technical issue: Medvedev's forehand is playing too much from the elbow. "He doesn't move his wrist very much, and that would be very important on sand."
In the end, Medvedev has to focus on one thing above all: "He has to say to himself: Okay, I'll stay on the pitch for four hours if necessary - let's see whether my opponent has the same weapons as me."