Daniil Medvedev is already on the court
While the Masters was still going on in Miami, Daniil Medvedev announced that he had undergone surgery for a hernia. Russia’s best tennis player missed the start of the grass series of tournaments and has been busy recovering. A week after the surgery, Daniil said he had already started his “favorite kind of training” – on a game console: “It’s been a week since I had the surgery. I feel so much better. In a few days I will start doing pull-ups. Right now it’s only possible to train on the PlayStation. Well, by the end of April, Medvedev pleased his fans with more encouraging news.
The 2021 US Open champion posted a video of himself training on the court on his social networks. Daniil is training at Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in the south of France. Under this video the Russian left the following comment: “The first tennis trainings”. It’s worth noting that Medvedev is practicing his strokes on hard court.
This message gathered a lot of likes and comments. All of Daniil’s sponsors, as well as tennis player Elena Vesnina, Medvedev’s doubles partner – Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner noted under the post. Andrey Rublev joked: “The octopus style is in action again,” and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea wrote in the comments to the video: “Don’t forget to practice a little in Rainbow Six (a computer game, a tactical first-person shooter. -By the way, Championship).
Since training sessions have started, it begs the question – when will we see Daniil in action? What tournament will be his first one after his return? There are a lot of options. So far the Russian has withdrawn from almost all mainland tournaments – Masters in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. He’s only been included in the Roland Garros bid so far.
Can Medvedev play? The president of the FTR, Shamil Tarpischev, does not exclude that: “Daniel’s recovery is going fine, according to schedule. His injury is easy in the sense that it is less dangerous for the future, and it is difficult in the sense that we need to set aside time. With a good set of circumstances, Daniil can play at Roland Garros. You have to force it smoothly. In this case, you have to wait it out. All in all, it’s okay.”
Nikola Pilich, former coach of Novak Djokovic, expressed concern about the Russian’s imminent return: “Medvedev is recovering from surgery, he will have problems when he returns to Roland Garros. When you don’t play for a month, you need a lot of time, he still has a lot to do… We see how it works right now with Novak. When you get a big break, big problems start happening.”
Even if Daniil decides to play at Roland Garros, it’s unlikely that he can perform as well as he did last year – a 1/4 final. Everyone knows how Medvedev feels about the clay. To feel confident on this surface you need a good physical preparation and game practice. The Russian began his training on hard surface and not on the mainland. So you can forget about Roland Garros this year for Medvedev? But there is one nuance.
Just before the French Open, Medvedev can overtake Djokovic and become the world number one, even without playing, at the expense of more points burned by the Serb. Daniel may well want to make his first career appearance at a Grand Slam tournament as the new world ranking leader.
Medvedev’s appearance at tournaments during the grass season is also a big problem. He is announced for the ATP-250 tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands). It has already been officially announced – Daniil is expected there. But, taking into consideration that Great Britain has closed access of all Russian and Belarussian tennis players to competitions in their country, including the famous Wimbledon, the question arises at once: is it necessary for Medvedev to move to grass this year, to play only on one small tournament in the Netherlands? Although the prospects on grass for Daniil, when he is in good shape, could be very good. Recall that last year he won the title for the first time on this surface, in Mallorca.
So what’s left for Medvedev if he has to skip both the grass and mainland seasons? He’ll have to prepare straight away for the American hard court. If that’s the case, then training on hard surface at the Muratoglu Academy is just what you need. Then you cannot force the situation, you are gaining gradually, you are getting into a rhythm, you are improving your physical preparation and as soon as you have the chance you’ll fly to the ocean and onto the American hard surface. Where in North America can the Russian start? He usually played the ATP-500 in Washington and then a bunch of two Masters in Canada and Cincinnati. But this time, given his lack of playing practice and long downtime, Medvedev and his team may decide to try their hand at the smaller ATP-250 tournament in Atlanta first. That event will be held July 27-31, right before Washington.
The famous Soviet tennis player and commentator Alexander Metreveli in an interview with “Championship” opined that there is nothing wrong if Medvedev will not play until the American hard court: “Lately it was obvious that he was not playing well. It was hard to determine what was bothering him. Is it critical that he misses the entire primer season? He might miss the dirt season and maybe the grass season. Maybe that’s a good thing, since dirt and grass aren’t really his coverages. Most importantly, he needs to validate the results he’s had. I don’t know if he’ll be able to do that. If there was a need to do surgery, he better do it. How much can a hernia knock you out of the season? In principle, it’s not a difficult surgery. It all depends on what kind of hernia and how the recovery after surgery will go. It`s hard to say, I think nobody will be able to give him the exact date.
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