‘I think it actually distracts me – Daniil Medvedev hoping to cut out on-court theatrics

Daniil Medvedev believes that his on-court outbursts at Indian Wells were a distraction for himself and it would be better for him to shut up and play instead. Medvedev has often vented out his frustration during the matches as he is not a fan of slow hardcourts at the tournament.

Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals. With that, he alos extended his red-hot winning streak to 17 matches. The fifth-seeded Russian took a tumble when moving out wide at 2-3 in the second set, yelping in pain as he rolled his right ankle. He still continued and turned the match around with his ankle taped. He captured victory on his second match point to earn a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 victory against the 12th-seeded German.

“I think it actually distracts me and I’d be better just shutting up and playing. That’s what I should do. But at the same time, that’s how I am,” Medvedev said.

“When I was much younger, I was actually worse. I tried to mature. I do think that in many aspects of my life and in my tennis career I’ve matured a lot. And I’m better than I was three, four years ago,” he further added.

‘That’s my character, and that’s my personality’ –  Medvedev

Medvedev also feels that the attitude in a match with Ivashka was immature, and said that such a high intensity in the game turn the things up.

“The attitude I had on the court today and with (Ilya) Ivashka was immature. But what else can I say? That’s also this high-intensity sport where you’re one on one against the opponent and it brings the heat out of you,” said Medvedev.

“Some players are capable of controlling it better than others. Some are controlling it less, like me. So that’s my character, and that’s my personality, also,” he added.

However, the world number six accepted his aggressive behaviour and said that he has worked on improving himself with the help of his mental coach as he doesn’t want to be remembered for his tantrums but his game.

“I want to have good relationship with all the guys on the court, because I can also understand that this can distract my opponent, and that’s not what I want. I don’t care to win a match distracting my opponent. I want to win it normally. That’s something I work on constantly. I’m sure I’m going to only improve and improve on this case,” he concluded.