“That he struggles is not a problem for him to win”: Medvedev’s view on Sinner from across the net
Sinner struggles physically. Sinner wins anyway. Daniil Medvedev, the player who just took him to five hours across two days, explains the pattern, and traces it back to Djokovic and Nadal.
Daniil Medvedev, Rome 2026 | © Inside / PsNewz
Daniil Medvedev lost his Rome semi-final to Jannik Sinner 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in a match suspended overnight for darkness and resumed from cold on Saturday morning. He had served twice on Saturday at 5-3 down in the third to save match points before the loss was confirmed.
In the press conference afterwards, asked about Sinner’s physical struggles – the visible fatigue in the second set, the cramps that Sinner himself had referenced in his own press conference – Medvedev was offered a familiar prompt. Could the players in the locker room work out what was going on?
“No, definitely not talking about this in the locker room,” Medvedev said. “We try not to discuss tennis in the locker room. When I say ‘tennis in the locker room’, meaning we don’t look at a match and say, ‘look at his backhand, it’s so bad. Everyone should go there.’ At least I didn’t discuss this with anyone.”
Medvedev: “the points were physical”
The Russian then went past the locker-room question and offered an analysis of why Sinner’s physical struggles, however visible from the stands, do not translate into losses on his side of the net.
“Look, it’s very tough to play him. To win a point, you need to hit a lot of shots. I try to win the points, so I hit a lot of shots. I don’t know if maybe there was something else, but the points were physical. It was tough for me, as well. He was struggling.”
Novak many times was struggling against me physically. Rafa, same story.
The historical parallel came next.
“Whenever I play Novak, it’s a bit the same. Novak many times was struggling against me physically. Were there some other guys? Rafa, I struggled physically. But it was the same story. We played many shots because that’s how I play as well. I don’t think there is more about this.”
And then the structural line.
“Whenever someone is going to be good enough to play against Jannik in the baseline game, because there is no other way to win, it’s going to be struggle for both. We saw in Monte-Carlo, he was struggling as well, but he won. That he struggles is not a problem for him to win. The only kind of chance you have is to play this 30-shot rally, try to win them. Then you both going to struggle.”
“Nice feeling”
The Monte-Carlo reference Medvedev draws is to Sinner’s R16 win against Tomas Machac last month, in which Sinner struggled physically through three sets before closing it out. The point Medvedev is making is that this is a feature of the modern men’s game, not a Sinner-specific vulnerability.
“Nice feeling to play such good tennis,” Medvedev said after all. “When you play Jannik and you don’t play 110%, you cannot play bad and lose 6-2. I managed to raise my level in the second. Even today, was a bit fast. I tried almost like 30-all, saved a couple of match points on my serve. Happy with the level. Disappointed to lose.”
The Roland-Garros context closed the answer.
“In terms of confidence, every week is a new week. Good to do this level before Roland Garros, but it’s going to be new journey there.”
Medvedev tends to be humorous or distant when asked about his current form. This time was no exception. Asked whether he felt like the world No. 3 despite sitting at No. 9, he had his answer ready. “In Rome maybe. In Monte-Carlo, no,” he said, smiling. Daniil started the clay season from a 6-0, 6-0 loss and is ending it as a dark horse for Roland-Garros having make Sinner worry more than anyone on clay except Alcaraz. Not too bad.
