BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 7, 2026

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Tabilo

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Daniil. What made it work out so well for you today?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think today was a great match for me. I did everything well. I had zero breakpoints to save, even if some games were a bit of pressure on my serve. I think I put a lot of pressure on him from baseline points. I feel like I was kind of on top of him. So his only chance left was to serve well, which can make you stay in any match in the world.

But I managed to return pretty well in important moments, and it was enough to win today. So super happy, because Alejandro is a tough opponent.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Well done tonight. Can you just tell us a little bit about the ordeal with Dubai and getting here and how that may have affected some of your preparation coming here?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I mean, usually you have, what is it, four, five days to prepare here, if you play well in Dubai, or even Acapulco. So here I had three days, which it's not bad. It's not like I had one day and I had to play. So three days is not bad. It's somewhere in the limit, because 12-hour time difference with Dubai, and our travel was tougher than just a direct flight from Dubai to Los Angeles.

But I honestly felt great today, so it means that the jet lag is done, and made a good job, I slept well, and looking forward to next matches being 100%, even if I was already today.

Q. Can you just explain us, how did you manage to travel from Dubai to Indian Wells, please.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it was not easy to decide what was to do, because that was a little bit the toughest part. At one moment we were texting a lot with Andrey and Karen, for sure. So me and Andrey decided let's go to Oman, let's try to find something there.

It was not easy to find, because everyone was trying to leave, and there were not a lot of slots to leave or planes to leave. But we managed find a plane.

So Karen joined us, and the next day we managed to fly to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Los Angeles. It was just longer and a bit more stressful in terms of logistics than usual. So a lot of time on the phone, which drains you a lot, trying not to be on my phone 24/7, and when you are, it's tiring physically.

So as I say, just a bit more tired physically coming here than usual, but I managed to deal well with it.

Q. The video you released when it originally happened, you seemed very calm. I mean, was the experience a little bit weird at all? And does it put into perspective the sort of craziness the world we're living in? Did you see anything weird along the way during your drive?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I did. Actually, let's put it this way, I stayed in one of the hotels where something happened, so we had to evacuate at night with my wife.

It, like, how can I say, I think it depends the kind of person you are and the situation that you're in, so if I would be with my kids, I'd probably be more stressed about the situation. The kids were not there. They were back home in Monaco.

So I was, like, okay, the main thing is now, okay, how do we try to get to Indian Wells? I will be honest with you, if not tennis, I think I would probably stay in Dubai, because I did feel quite safe there. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I felt there.

But for me, it was about, okay, how do we get to Indian Wells, and how do I get my wife back to kids in Monaco. We managed to do it. And again, that was the main part, because, for example, when was it, on Sunday, the next day, we were in the mall, we were enjoying ourselves in Dubai. I feel like we were not too much stressed about the situation itself but more about how do we move on from there.

Q. Now that you're here, a place where you have played well, it feels like tonight you were really comfortable with the game and everything was going kind of back to normal, right?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, Indian Wells, is a strange place for me, because in a way, coming here, and especially the first days where it's, like, the jet lag cannot be bigger from Dubai, and I always play Dubai. So it's always you come here, it's a 12-hour time difference, the court is completely different from Dubai. Even the balls feel different even if, for example, this year the same, but because of the court.

First two, three days, usually I'm, like, okay there is no chance I'm winning the first round. Actually, this year was a bit different. Then I managed to play well. The last three years were unbelievable here, great results.

So I love coming back here. I love the place itself without talking about tennis. I'm looking forward for more this year, and the match today was mostly very high level. I'm very happy with myself.

Q. You're familiar with the term "tennis IQ," how they'll talk about you oftentimes saying you have a high tennis IQ. What does that term mean to you? In your mind, who out there is the player that you see as having one of the highest tennis IQs?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it's very vague, if I should say, because I feel like tennis IQ is very close to mental strength, but at the same time it's completely different things.

So it's so tough to say. Like, for example, Novak, he probably has a very high tennis IQ, but is it the highest in the history of tennis, or is he mentally the strongest in the history of tennis, or is it both? It's very tough to say.

So if you ask about me, I feel like, yes, I know some things about tennis. I like to, generally, to think about the matches, and how do I use my strengths to the either weakness of the opponent, or even is my strength stronger than his, and then I play to his strengths, but I might be stronger in this. So kind of things like this.

At the same time, I do consider myself mentally strong, as well, so I think who else maybe I can put, let's say from young guys, Learner, for sure. Yeah, I played him four times now, and in a way every match was different, but the way he, yeah, he manages to control the court, to control the point to his favor is really impressive.

We're playing doubles tomorrow, but I really like his game and kind of hoping he can do well in his career.