Daniil Medvedev won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Cincinnati three years ago, but many don't know what happened behind the scenes.
The 2019 North American hard court season was a special one for Medvedev, as he achieved a lot of success. He played in a couple of finals, he won the Cincinnati Open, and he played in the US Open final.
Medvedev remembered that edition in his pre-event press conference this year and shared some stories about what had happened behind the scenes.
He played in the final in Canada on Sunday and then arrived in Cincinnati in the early hours of Monday morning, as his plane was delayed.
"The plane was delayed, maybe there was a thunderstorm or something. I remember coming to my room and I was the No. 9 seed, so I was just one out from [getting] a bye and playing Wednesday, so I had to play Tuesday. I came [to] my room at like 4:30 in the morning [on Monday]."
As a result, he was very tired, not only because of his previous tournament, but also because of the exhausting journey, which didn't help him to recover.
“I was completely destroyed. I also played the Washington final. I was destroyed and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to try to play’, but I didn’t have [many] expectations."
"Every match was the same, something was hurting, I was really tired, I was like, ‘Just go through this and let’s see how it goes’."
Because of that, his expectations were not very high, but Medvedev ended up winning the event, and it was the start of everything that transpired after that.
"I have pretty amazing memories, especially playing my best matches, starting from the quarters and of course the match against Novak, where he was one set to love up. Amazing. that’s why I always love coming here."
"The tournament didn’t really change from three years ago. I love this atmosphere, because I was always playing good here, especially starting from four years ago. I hope to do the same this year."