Daniil Medvedev spoke honestly after his opening match at the 2024 ATP Finals, admitting his desire to play tennis has fallen.
Medvedev's last title was in May 2023. Surprisingly, that came on clay, his least favorite surface by far, at the Italian Open. Eighteen months have passed since the 2021 US Open champion lifted a trophy.
That is a lengthy period for someone in Medvedev's class. However, he performed well in early 2024 by reaching the finals of the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Open, losing to Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz, respectively.
But Medvedev's performances in recent months have dropped. He is currently far below the level on hard-courts that took him to six Grand Slam finals on the surface throughout his successful career.
Medvedev can sometimes be fiery on-court, but his meltdown against Taylor Fritz on the opening day of the ATP Finals was bizarre even by the 28-year-old's standards.
After receiving a time violation for throwing his racket high into the air, Medvedev repeatedly threw it closer to him and deliberately did not catch it after every point on Fritz's service game at 6-4, 4-2 to the American.
Medvedev went on to lose the match 6-4, 6-3. In an interview afterward, the former world No. 1 spoke about not enjoying tennis in the last few months because of slow balls that disadvantage him.
"I have a feeling that for two years, and precisely in the last three months, I've been fighting with something that does not depend on me. I love to fight, but I'm tired. Three weeks ago, I told the coach: 'I come to the practice court and I have no desire at all.'"
"Sorry, I should've said 'I get no pleasure at all. I always have the desire- to progress, to work, to practice the forehand, the backhand, the serve. But I have little desire to play tennis the way it is these days."
"We have been playing this kind of tennis for two years now. And if in 2019-2020 I could win matches 6-2, 6-2, these days it's simply not possible. I have to fight... But all tennis is like this nowadays. If you don't have the power, like Alcaraz and Sinner, to accelerate a dead ball, then you're playing monotonous tennis, back and forth."
During his press conference, the three-time Australian Open runner-up also talked about the same issue, saying he was tired of fighting against something that doesn't depend on himself.
"But now i'm tired to fight against it. I'm tired to fight against something that doesn't depend on myself. I'll see how it goes. Today I actually had my chances. I'll have them the next matches. If it doesn't work out, I go on holiday. I'm happy."
"As I say, I feel like I'm in a big disadvantage, but I need to do something with it. For the moment, I couldn't find the exact way, like I can find the way through some matches like Shanghai, Beijing, even US Open."
Despite his feelings, Medvedev responded by beating Alex de Minaur in his second match at the ATP Finals. That means he has a great chance of qualifying if he manages the difficult feat of overcoming Jannik Sinner on Thursday.