“Couldn’t Hit Two Balls in the Court”: Daniil Medvedev Reveals Initial Struggles in Opening-Round Win at Mallorca

Published 06/22/2021, 11:22 PM EDT

Not the best of starters on grass, Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev coasted past Frenchman Corentin Moutet in his opening-round clash at Mallorca on Tuesday.

The current World No.2 made short work of the diminutive Frenchman, eventually coming through 6-4, 6-2.

Having crashed out in the opening round at the Noventi Open in Halle after losing to big-serving German Jan Lennard-Struff, Medvedev travelled to Mallorca in the quest of picking up some wins and finding his bearings on grass ahead of Wimbledon.

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Daniil Medvedev posted career win on grass over Corentin Moutet

The victory over Moutet, his 19th career win on grass, saw him set up a quarter-final meeting with in-form Norwegian star Casper Ruud.

At an on-court interview post match, the Russian conceded that he struggled with unforced errors in the early passage of play and even his serving left a lot to be desired.

However, he slowly found his groove as the match wore on and was happy to have won in straight sets.

“In the beginning, I couldn’t hit two balls in the court and I was missing lots of serves when I had 40/0. On grass, that’s not the best thing to do in my first (service) of the match,” Medvedev said.

He added that the win gave him confidence that he can take into his quarter-final clash against Ruud.

“I am really happy that I managed to win the match because that’s what gives (me) confidence and (hopefully) in the next rounds I can play better,” the Russian added.

Medvedev set up quarter-final clash with Casper Ruud

Shifting focus to his next opponent, Medvedev said Ruud has risen significantly in singles rankings on the back of a dream clay court season.

He added that though grass is not the Norwegian’s strong suit, he is wary of him as he has been on a run of wins.

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“Casper is a great player, he jumped a lot this year (in singles rankings). Hopefully the grass can help me a little bit because it’s not his best surface. But I’m sure he is playing good here and I need to be at my best,” Medvedev said.

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Priyabrata Chowdhury is a tennis author for EssentiallySports. He has been a print journalist for a decade, producing news pages for leading national dailies such as the Hindustan Times and The New Indian Express. His passion for sports eventually drove him to tennis writing.

“Couldn’t Hit Two Balls in the Court”: Daniil Medvedev Reveals Initial Struggles in Opening-Round Win at Mallorca

Daniil Medvedev posted career win on grass over Corentin Moutet

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Medvedev set up quarter-final clash with Casper Ruud