Medvedev On Dimitrov: 'I Don't See Him Losing To Anybody'
Top seed Daniil Medvedev is remaining upbeat despite suffering a shock collapse that led to a fourth-round defeat to Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Russian led by a set and a double break before falling to the World No. 28. However, having won 18 of his past 20 matches on North American soil, Medvedev was in a reflective mood as he praised the performance of Dimitrov.
On whether the 13-time tour-level champion could put the result into perspective, Medvedev said: “100 per cent. If I would lose the US Open final, maybe [I] would have been a little bit tough on myself. But I do think I see kind of the reasons why this happened. Grigor played [the] second part of the match better than anybody did against me [at the] US Open that I won. Playing this level, I don’t see him losing to anybody, but let’s see the result.
“I don’t see [it as the] end of the world this match. I’m definitely going to just continue working for the next one and just try to be better next time, because, Indian Wells, I really like the place, so I want to try to do better one day.”
The World No. 2 has had a huge amount of success in recent months in North America. Medvedev captured his first major title at the US Open in September, before he helped guide Team Europe to a fourth-consecutive victory over Team World at the Laver Cup.
[FOLLOW 1000]The 25-year-old, who won his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto in August, suggested that the slower conditions in California played a factor in his defeat.
“I don’t remember myself losing three service games, even four service games ever, I guess, on hard courts,” Medvedev said. “That shows how slow this court is and the conditions, more like clay, I would say, which I don’t like, because to lose serve four times is just unacceptable. I knew that during the day, [it is] much tougher to control the ball for me, especially on the serve.“