Roland Garros 2022: Daniil Medvedev looking for a feel for sand
Daniil Medvedev may not have had much success on ashes - but with the draw for the 2022 French Open, the Russian's chances of a surprise coup have increased.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 21, 2022, 08:29 am
By Jens Huiber from Roland Garros
Daniil Medvedev brought his manager with him to his mandatory appearance at the Media Day before the French Open 2022 on Friday. Which is as amazing as it is unnecessary, Medvedev can do the press conferences quite well on his own. And in at least three different languages, as the small excursion into French at the end of the question and answer session showed. What was there to learn? Politically, next to nothing, at the time of the quarter of an hour that the media had with Medvedev, the ATP's decision regarding the cancellation of the points for the Wimbledon tournament had not yet been made.
And of course Medvedev also has no statement about the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine - mainly because this complex of topics in the tennis circus seems to be over. Or the reporters have lost all hope of a concrete answer from the second in the world rankings. She couldn't come on Friday either: no specific question was asked.
Medvedev with a bad record against the French
On the sporting side: Medvedev digested the defeat against Richard Gasquet in Geneva well, he could have won the second set. But it went the other way, with Medvedev on Ashes still waiting for his first win against a Frenchman. And the sand in general: anyone who emptied a shot of schnapps at every comment aimed at Daniil Medvedev not liking playing on the Terre Battue too much would have staggered out of conference room number one with a good deal of intoxication.
On Thursday evening, however, Medvedev will have looked into himself a little - and realized that the draw meant well for him. Because with the exception of Stefanos Tsitsipas, to whom Medvedev was defeated in the Roland Garros quarter-finals last year, all the favorites have found themselves in the upper half. Which logically leads to Daniil Medvedev wishing to meet Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev or Carlos Alcaraz. Because such an encounter could only take place in the final.
To do this, however, one cog must mesh with the other, the two previous training days in Paris have encouraged Medvedev that it could be something with a deep run into the second major of the year. And he gets two extra days to practice on top of that, the top half of the tableau will open the tournament on Sunday and Monday. And on Tuesday against Facundo Bagnis you will see if the reigning US Open champion has discovered his feel for the sand.
Here the individual tableau in Roland Garros
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