“It’s Going to Be Super Strange” – Daniil Medvedev on Playing US Open 2020

Daniil Medvedev burst onto the scene in 2019. The Russian had an exemplary 2nd half of 2019 where he reached three Masters finals winning two of them. To cap it off he reached the finals of the US Open where he narrowly lost to Rafael Nadal. Eventually, such strong performances have surged his ranking to No.5.

But due to the pandemic, the tennis season has come to a halt. The Wimbledon was canceled and the French Open postponed. Tennis is gearing up for a return with the US circuit to start by mid-August. But still, many players are hesitant to travel to the United States as the pandemic is still prominent there.

“I want to come back on the court as fast as possible” –  Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev in a conversation with Eurosport put forth his uncertainties regarding the US Open. The 2019 finalist pointed out that many players are uncomfortable with strict rules. But he also realizes that if the strict rules are not implied then there is a huge risk of contracting the virus.

“I don’t think we can know what is going to happen in New York at that moment, and as you may have seen, some players are against very strict rules,” he said.

“At the same time, if you don’t have the strict rules, then there is a big chance of us getting infected or something else,” he added

Medvedev wants to get on the court as soon as possible. He says it will be different playing without the crowds. The Arthur Ashe Stadium used in the US Open has a capacity of 23,771 and is the highest capacity tennis stadium in the world. Playing in such a huge empty stadium will be difficult for players like Medvedev who have huge crowd support.

“Just talking about myself, I want to come back on the court as fast as possible and play tournaments.” said the World No.5

“It’s going to be super strange because all of us played junior tournaments or futures, where you play maybe just with your coach and no-one else there. But it’s different, it’s a small court, it’s somewhere indoors in the middle of nowhere.” He added

Medvedev didn’t have a great start to the 2020 season. He only managed to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open. The Russian will want to start the resumption well. But will he play the US Open or not is still unknown.