US OPEN

August 28, 2026

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Daniil, before we start, we have a very special presentation.

(Presentation of award to Daniil Medvedev.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I guess your first time winning this award. How do you feel about your general press skills?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, before I got this award, I knew about this three, four days ago, maybe five days ago, I didn't know it existed. So it's fun. You know, I probably would say my first award, that sort of type, not the award you win by your result, but something, Fair Player of the Year, probably not going to win it, stuff like this, like the ATP does.

But I do believe I can be fun to talk to sometimes with you guys, so I appreciate it. That really is a nice feeling, because again, I know that on the court a bit of a different personality and I can be a bit of pain. But, off the court, I try, you know, to just show my nice personality which I have as well and to get rewarded for this is a great feeling.

Q. When did you first realize you were good at press conferences?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I would say I'm not good. I just feel I enjoy talking. Like, I mean, I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert, not completely, but I enjoy being in silence also alone in my room. But this is part of my job, and I want to enjoy my job, and already on the court I'm suffering to enjoy my job. So at least here I'm, like, enjoy. I have to do it, enjoy. I feel like if you enjoy, then people can enjoy with you, so probably that's why I got the award, I guess.

Q. Last year there was a lot of experimentation of racquets and strings that I was able to notice, like even at Roland Garros I think you played hybrid some of the match and then went full poly for the second half of the match.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It was the same here in US Open last year.

Q. Have you kind of set your technology where it's been consistent for a while now or are you still playing around?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, I set it. I decided even if something goes the wrong way, which was the case a bit lately, I'm not going to look into racquets or strings, which I love my racquet and my strings, I know I can play amazing with it.

In ideal world, maybe should you adapt a bit compare if it's a different ball, different surface, maybe, but I decided that I don't want to get into this past and become even more crazy on the court, thinking about racquet, strings. I love my racquet, I love my strings, I stick to it.

Q. Back to interviews, on-court interviews, how do you enjoy that kind of thing, especially in Australia where talking to Jim Courier, he gets you going. This year you had the positioning on the court and stuff. How do you find those? Are they useful, fun?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I would say on-court interviews are tougher than here. Because here, honestly, I just speak myself, like, I don't exaggerate to be nice or to be funny. I just talk to you guys.

On court it's a bit different because there is a big crowd so there you need to improvise a bit. You're not going to be there standing like, yes, it was a great match, I'm very happy with my forehand, thank you, guys, and see you next time. You need to improvise a little bit.

And so of course having a host that can help you with it, and Jim, we probably have the best match for this, is just super fun. Yeah, it's fun, because sometimes it can get the crowd on your side. Sometimes that's not the case, because what happens is the next match you come and it's a different crowd, it's different people there.

But it can be fun, and same, I enjoy it as well. Sometimes can be tough after a grueling match, but again, part of the job, and I enjoy it.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Carlos coming back at the US Open. Seems a little crazy to some of us that he would start with the best-of-five tournament having a pretty serious injury. I know you don't know much about his injury probably, but in your perspective how would you feel about trying to do some of that, coming off from a long layoff to a best-of-five tournament like he's doing?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, of course we don't know in details, right, the injury that he had, but I think if he's here and he will try to play, it means that he and his team is confident that the injury is not going to get worse. Because in my opinion, whatever happened to his wrist, I don't know exactly, it doesn't matter if he would play two or five sets, three or five sets, because best-of-three you can play three or five. Because if it's not completely healed, he would play a 7-6 in the third and probably is going to hurt.

And I don't think two extra sets will have a big toll on his body, for sure, because he didn't play since long time, like on the legs, glutes, stuff like this. But probably on his wrist not really because if that's something he healed, I don't think it's going to be a problem.

But it's more, as I say, for the whole body itself, if he has a tough match, it could be interesting to see how he cops up. We should not forget if he will have pain, he could retire any moment.

I think it's really nice for me to see him here, to play. If I'm going to have the chance, definitely going to watch his match, he's playing my friend Roman as well, so it's going to be interesting for me. I wish he doesn't feel any pain and plays free.

Q. On that note, last year when it was Jannik and Carlos kind of winning everything, the expectation on this side of the room is it's going to be one of those two guys, whatever. As players, do you sort of notice who's not there? Would anyone be honest and say we think we have a better chance this year than we did last year?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it depends. Like, I just answered this question somewhere. But if it's Arthur Fils or Sascha Zverev, Arthur won Cincinnati, confidence right now. Sascha has been in three finals of three slams this year. For them, they're probably thinking about it, not in a bad way, but they're like, we have a better chance without Jannik and maybe Carlos not 100% yet. For me, I just want to find my game and pass some rounds. I'm not at all thinking about something crazy.

But, if we speak as a whole, whoever will have a good two weeks has a better chance when Jannik is not here, because when he's here, it's a huge challenge to beat him. Not many players were able to do it this year. So of course the draw is more open than before but, again, there are still some guys that go deep every tournament and they're going to try to spoil everyone else's opportunity for the Open draw.

Q. I know your daughters are quite young still, but I wonder if maybe your older daughter plays any tennis? I have been asking some players who have kids how they would feel about their kids playing tennis and everyone is either, oh, my God, never, or very much like, yes, obviously they're going to play tennis.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, I would be okay but I want her, of course, to do what she likes. At the same time, that's a job of a parent that maybe when she's going to be 10 years old and imagine she likes tennis, she's going to lose a match, and for sure say, okay, I don't want to play tennis anymore. That's when you have to see from your side if what she says is emotional or not.

In general she does play a bit, the older one. The smaller one is too small. She plays a bit, she enjoys it. But she's just super young. It's fun. But I'll go a bit deeper, she has my personality on the court. I'm not going to go into details. She does have my personality on the court and that's where when I see her, I'm like, maybe it's a bit of genetics somewhere there. And all the people that talk about me after the match, I should control myself more, I'm like, she's three years old, and it's not like we taught her to do the things she's doing on the court.

So it's a lot of fun to see this. If she likes tennis, I'll be completely up for it, but it's going to be a very tough job for her coach and for her parents.

Q. You have suggested a few times it's been quite challenging few weeks on the court. Curious how differently do you digest a difficult stretch and, like, look for solutions, particularly knowing how high your level has been at parts of this year?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's not easy at all, because what's tough about tennis, you're searching for confidence, and the thing is everyone who is top 100 knows how to play tennis. The moment you regress, for whatever reason you do, double faults, forehand mistakes, they're going to get you, because they're good tennis players.

So you need to be at your best to prove you are a top-10 player that can beat a lot of guys. If you want to win a slam, you need to be at your best for three, four, five sets and stuff like this.

Which I was not able to exactly do it the last tournaments, and hence, I lost. It's as easy as that in a way. So of course, looking for solutions, the turnaround is short so it's not like I have four weeks on the practice court to try to something.

But I love New York, I love US Open, so what I'm going to do is give it my all, I'll fight hard, I will try to bring my best tennis. And if I manage to do it, I could be in a good position to do big things. If I am not, then we're going to be here with this trophy and going to go home (smiling).

Q. Many players are retiring this year, so I'd like to ask about the Asian star, Nishikori. Please share your opinion of his tennis or his passion.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, we played a lot of matches against Kei. I loved playing against him. Super-tough opponent, tough competitor. Was super consistent at the top level, especially coming back from some injuries that was not easy.

Huge respect for Kei. I know it's his last days on the tennis court. He actually made a great run here. Unfortunate he didn't make it all the way, because I could even potentially play him, never know, but yeah, big respect to him, and I hope he enjoys life after tennis.