“Everyone’s struggling here”: Medvedev continues to criticise conditions in Indian Wells

After getting into the round of 16 at Indian Wells, Daniil Medvedev had another pop at the conditions there – and gave some thoughts on his next round, against Alexander Zverev

Daniil Medvedev in action at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells (Antoine Couvercelle/Panoramic)

Rémi Bourrières

March 13, 2023

By beating the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka without dropping a set (6-2, 3-6, 6-1) on Sunday night in Indian Wells, Daniil Medvedev completed a 16th consecutive victory and has already equalled the best result of his career in Indian Wells, with a round of 16, just as he managed in 2021, and now sets him up for a clash with old rival Alexander Zverev.

But the Russian, who had already spoken out against the slow pace of the courts after his first-round win over Brandon Nakashima, did so again on Sunday during and after his match against Ivashka.

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“Very tough, not easy to play here,” he said at the start of his press conference. “For everyone, for everyone. I feel like there are, let’s say, ten players that have the quality -, I will not say which one – but to play good here because they have something in their game that can help them. Other than that everyone is struggling.

“You can see a lot of matches 6-1 in one of the sets, and you look at it on TV and you’re like the other one is not playing bad, just few moments. You miss [a] few shots on important moments after 25-shot rally.

“That kind of was the difference between second and third set. I cannot say I played much better in the third, but managed to be the one not missing after 25 shots but it was more him managed to just be a little bit better on the important moments.”

Medvedev: The key to Zverev is his serve

Medvedev is expecting more extended rallies against Zverev, whom he will face in the round of 16 and who, like him, has never been too successful in Indian Wells, with a quarter-final his best result in 2021.

The two players are now 6-6 in their head-to-head meetings but have not faced each other since the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals final won by the German, and Medvedev is anticipating, of course, a great “fight” when they meet on Tuesday.

“I remember he did very well in Turin to beat me,” said the former world No 1, “like he played, first of all, he was serving great, so that’s the key for him. I think he’s a little bit less important here in Indian Wells probably. But I’m sure we’re gonna have a lot of rallies, lots of rallies. It’s gonna come down to who makes, again after like 20 shots, the best shot to try to put your opponent off balance, which is not easy to do here.”