US OPEN

September 4, 2026

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Rinderknech

6-4, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Daniil, congratulations on moving on.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: 4, 4, 4. Straight sets. Your thoughts?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Great feeling, Arthur very tough opponent. Huge serve. Can bring trouble to everyone, proved it a lot of times.

Happy to be solid, to win the match. That's the most important. And happy to wait for the next opponent.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Given the lows that you had for quite a while this year, how would you describe the way you're playing right now and why you think you're playing this way right now?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Why? Because it's sports, and tennis maybe even more than other sports. It's a very technical, mental, physical. So have a small pain in your calf, maybe you're going to serve a bit worse. Maybe you're going to feel a bit worse mentally because of this. And maybe you're going to lose a match when you have 5-4, Love-40. I didn't have a pain in the calf that day.

It's a lot of, like, the forehand you can miss in the tape where today was not missing in the tape and stuff like this.

This is normal for tennis, to have ups and downs. For sure, when you know you're No. 1 in the world, you want to have more ups than downs. But it can happen to have some downs. Just trying to stick to the goals, trying to play better, win match at the time.

And I'm happy that I managed to play really good today and be through to the next round. Hope I can only increase my level from there.

Q. Getting back to the first part, how would you describe all the things that are going right for you right now?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Today was a great match, like if you ask me out of 10, maybe 7.5, 8 out of 10. I'm pretty rough to myself, let's say. I know there were a couple of moments where I could be better, but it was a great, solid match where, you know, I beat a tough opponent and I'm pretty happy about it.

Q. My perception is that nowadays players are changing their return position more often in matches, like I think of Jannik, he'll be up on the baseline returning early and then randomly on a breakpoint will just go to the back fence. How effective is that? And also, as a server, how much do you think of the return position of your opponent versus just hitting your spots?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Tough question, because it's a little bit of what I was saying in the first answer, is it depends. You know, when you're confident and you're serving your best and you're feeling your best, and, you know, you may be getting in the semifinals, finals of slams, you don't really care. He can go inside of court, outside the court, far, close, whatever. You just hit a good serve and get ready for the next one.

Once you're a bit out of confidence, he can be very far, he can be very close, you feel the pressure either way and stuff like this.

I think it can be effective, because it's part of tactics. If you go closer, you put a bit more pressure, you give less time to your opponent, you can expose yourself a bit with the next shot.

If you go further, gives you a safer option a little bit, brings you in the point. But also, maybe it gives the opponent a little bit time, you know, to think about his shot and make a better shot.

So I like, you know, when people change their positions, try to search for answers. I do this as well sometimes. I always ask myself the question. I know that most of the time I'm far, but I always ask myself a question during the match, is there maybe a moment where I need to step up, and if I feel like I need to, I will do it.

Q. As a follow-on from the ups and downs, when you're going into a tournament, do you get any sort of sensation, any sort of feelings? And in particular over here where you've done so well in the past, that this could be a good couple of weeks?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It can happen, but it's never, and that's what drives some people crazy during tennis matches, some people are more reluctant and they can stay calm, but they're all crazy inside in a different level, some show it a bit more, is yeah, sometimes it happens, but it also happens, there are many different scenarios where I can name you some tournaments where I was feeling absolutely horrific before the tournament, like a Masters event or something, and I would go on to win it. Maybe with the first round it was, like, tough and I should have lost or whatever.

And the other way around, sometimes you feel like, Wow, that's my tournament, I'm feeling good, going to be in the final or something, and then you come into the first-round match and it's not at all like in practice.

As I say, the most important is trust yourself, trust what you're doing, try to always find the solution. Fight for the goal, and if you believe in it, it can work one day.

Q. You have rich history in New York with the fans. Wondering how New York is feeling, how the New York experience has been, and what you think about the atmosphere for your first couple of matches here?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I played early. I played day matches, so it's a bit less electric usually, day matches, but a lot of love, a lot of fun.

So when you're winning, it's a bit both ways because for sure the crowd wants to prolong the match, so they support your opponent a bit. But I felt like a got a lot of support during these three matches.

I love it. I love playing in New York, so I enjoy it a lot. And looking forward, day, night, doesn't matter. Will just enjoy my time on the court.

Q. You're going to play either Vacherot or Tiafoe. They play today. Are you going to watch the match, and what are your thoughts about both of them?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I'm going to watch a bit if they show it on ESPN or ESPN2. If they show it there, I'm going to watch. If they don't show it, I know their game, so I'm not necessarily going to, like, go into details, Oh, my God, he missed his forehand, maybe it's the one.

If they show it, I'm going to enjoy the game because it's a big match. Can be really interesting. Electric a bit.

Both really great players, a bit different style, so I'm going to see who wins and prepare for the winner.

Q. I was really impressed by your pitch at the Reds game when you did the first pitch.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Thank you.

Q. Wondering what the preparation was like for that and if you thought about how you would be as a baseball player, whether pitcher or other position, because you obviously watch all this baseball, I'm sure you have imagined what it would be like instead of growing up in Russia if you grew up in the Midwest with a baseball bat instead of a racquet?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Tough question. I would think that as a pitcher I would not be great enough. Just a feeling. I think I would be okay on defense in the outfield, and I have no idea if I would be good with a bat. I never did in my life. I have never tried, so I have absolutely no idea if I have any, let's say sort of talent, or if I'm horrible. No idea.

Yeah, the pitch, I mean, as tennis players, we have a little bit of the same movement. It's with a racquet, so it's different. But I feel like any tennis player could throw a kind of good pitch.

I actually could throw much better, but the thing is that it was first time in my have life, and it's a bit everything is happening fast, and they're like, Okay, go throw.

So I'm like, actually, I should have taken 10 seconds, you know, to prepare the ball in the hand and stuff, but I was a bit nervous. I was like, Let's go for it. It was not bad. Next time I'll do better.

Q. I wanted to ask about your philosophy of serving and if you ever watch, because you do watch baseball, and see the way the pitchers can manipulate batters by changing speed by variation, and specifically the speed, because you can bomb it at 135. Have you ever said, I'm going to hit a second serve at 70 just to throw them off? Yes, they'll hit the ball, but they won't hit it maybe in the way they wanted. Is that a possible tactic for a server? How do serving and pitching relate in your head?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think it's a bit different, but whenever I watch any sport, I try to look for sure for some more, like, mental details, because, you know, it's same in every sport.

You know, you see a great baseball player that gets, I don't know, 50 million per year because he's a great baseball player, and then he goes sometimes through a tough period, cannot hit, and everyone is like, Oh, my God, he's done or whatever, and then, pow, for one month he's, again, doing only homeruns and stuff like this.

If you talk about serving and pitching, I think it's a bit different how it's constructed. So tough for me to relate exactly.

But I would say where it's the same is that sometimes your serve is off, like a little bit, even the best pitchers, and you watch one match and he's off, he cannot throw it in the zone.

It's the same with the serve. You know, I know that my serve is great and can be great, like it is these three matches, I lost only one serve. There are some matches like against Botic in Montreal, I lost, what, 6 in two sets.

Horrible day for the server, but you know, you need to practice, as you say, sometimes try to get in the head of the returner, but returner tries to do the same.

And it's just that's why sport is fun in general. I do believe that actually every sport we have on this planet is fun in its on way, and then you decide if you like it or not.

Q. Serve-related, but whenever you're getting the ball from the ball crew, what are you looking for and why? Is there a certain amount of fluff? What's your approach?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, usually with the way balls are now, you're looking for less-fluffy balls, so it gets a little bit more speed, especially on the first serve. I think some people on the second maybe do the other way around. I try to choose the two fastest balls, from what I see from my experience, to serve with.

It's a little bit here, because these Wilson US Open balls, they don't fluff as much. They even sometimes go actually, like, dry, in a way, and then it's a bit different because you try to look just for the fresher ball. That's how I do it, at least.

But again, that's why sport is fun. Every server does it differently.