Daniil Medvedev, the 2019 Western & Southern Open, is optimistic for an uptick in form in Cincinnati after a disappointing quarter-final exit in Toronto to eventual finalist Alex de Minaur.
“It’s my last tournament before the US Open, important tournament, Masters 1000. In Toronto, unfortunately I didn’t do everything that I wanted to do with my game,” Medvedev said. “So I have a couple of days to try to get it working here and then of course, most important is going to be to try to win the matches. The draw is pretty packed, I would say very strong, which is normal. So looking forward [to it].”
Medvedev held leads against De Minaur in each set, but was unable to put away the Australian and paid for it with an exit in the last eight. But the good news for the No. 3 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is that he believes he knows what was off with his game in Canada.
“I felt like I was missing a little bit one shot where I could just hit the guy straight away and put him in trouble,” Medvedev said. “So I’m going try to do this. Two, three days I have in practice and hopefully I can integrate it also during the tournament.
“But the thing is that the practice is so different to [the] tournament. So as I said, you try to work on something in practice, but it really doesn’t matter [unless] you’re going to be able to do it in the match. But that’s what you’re trying to do.”
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The 27-year-old will take confidence knowing he owns a 48-10 record this season and is in third place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, just 645 points behind second-placed Novak Djokovic.
Medvedev is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fifth consecutive year. He has already won five titles this season, including ATP Masters 1000 victories in Miami and Rome.
This historically has been a good stretch of the season for Medvedev. Four of his six Masters 1000 triumphs have come from Canada through the end of the year. Despite his quarter-final loss in Toronto, he is ready to turn the page beginning with an intriguing clash against Washington champion Daniel Evans or Lorenzo Musetti.
“In Toronto, not a bad tournament, but I was not at my best,” Medvedev said. “So I hope… to try to raise my level higher and higher and to play at my best before the US Open.”