World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev shared his thoughts ahead of starting the `Masters` tournament in Madrid.
– How are your feelings on clay? You mentioned you`ve had a lot of time this year to get accustomed to this surface.
– Good. After Monaco, unfortunately, I got food poisoning, caught some virus. I didn`t train for four or five days, although I wanted to start preparing immediately. But I`m really playing well now; we`ll see how it goes.
– Last year, you reached the quarter-finals here for the first time and could have potentially claimed the title if not for the injury. How do you find it in Madrid generally? Do you feel this particular clay surface suits you better?
– I wouldn`t say it suits me better, because my results on other clay tournaments are superior. Last year was genuinely disappointing because I had three strong matches. I was unfortunate. I ran for a drop shot, pulled my groin; that`s life. I hope this year I can physically endure until the end.
– How do your training sessions with Gilles (Cervara) help you pursue a new level? What changes have occurred?
– It`s difficult to provide a precise answer. There are things you always do. Serving, for instance, is the same – you step up and serve to designated zones. It`s tough to alter something there. But there are new shots, and others we haven`t practiced in a while. It`s a continuous process of seeking improvements.
– And can patience be developed through training?
– Your mentality can. There are various techniques. Sometimes just breathing can help; it would have aided me in certain moments, but I don`t always remember to think about it in the heat of the moment. This is something you build up in practice. It`s a trivial example, of course, but today in training, I was down 0/3 against Khachanov, and I had to persevere, but I managed to come back and finish the set properly. Patience is very important, but it is fundamentally a mental aspect.