“I try to take it tournament by tournament”: Medvedev on calls to ban Russian players from competing on tour

With the Ukraine Russia conflict and the chance to return to world No 1 in Miami, the spotlight is on Daniil Medvedev at this ongoing Miami Open

Daniil Medvedev hits a shot in his 2nd round match at the BNP Paribas open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

March 25, 2022

World No 2 Daniil Medvedev has said that he wants to take it one tournament at a time and hopes he and his compatriots will be able to continue competing on tennis pro Tours, even as some continue to call for Russian players to be banned form competing on the tennis circuit because of the war in Ukraine.

Medvedev was speaking in Miami where he is the top seed at the ATP Masters event and has a chance to regain the world No 1 ranking. The 25-year-old needs to reach the semi-finals in Miami to go back to take back the No 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic and plays three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray in the second round on Saturday.

Medvedev “happy to play tennis”

When asked about the calls by British politicians to bar Russian players who do not publicly state that they do not support Russian President Vladimir Putin, Medvedev responded, “Look, I try to take it tournament by tournament. There are always different rules, regulations in order to play or not to play. Right now I’m here in Miami. I can play and I’m happy to play tennis. That’s the sport I love. I want to promote the sport all over the world. We’ll have tough moments and good moments. That’s, to be honest, all I have to say. “

“So the next one after this one is Monte-Carlo, where this moment I’m a resident there, so I love this tournament also. I can play it normally and I’m happy to play it. Don’t have any response to Wimbledon. I will need to see what happens next.”

I do have my own opinions on different topics, but I prefer to speak about them with my family, with my wife
Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev said it was impossible to ignore all the noise around the Ukraine-Russia conflict but re-affirmed that he always supports peace and wants every person in the world to be safe and healthy.

“I think everybody knows what’s happening, so it’s basically of course impossible to ignore it, but I always said everybody has different opinions on different things in the world. I always said I’m for peace. I want everybody to be safe, healthy, myself included, other people included, everybody in the world. Sometimes it’s not possible, but that’s what I want.”

“That’s how life is”

Medvedev said he was aware that every country can frame their own rules that work best for themselves but did not want to make any further public comments on the issue.

“That’s how life is, every country can set their own rules. Maybe tomorrow somebody’s gonna announce, ‘We don’t want any more tennis tournaments’. Some big country – which has a Grand Slam, and maybe some other Masters events gonna say, ‘We don’t want any more tennis in our country’, the president gonna say it. He has the right to do it. That’s how life is.”

“It’s very tough in life to talk what is fair and not fair. So I of course do have my own opinions on different topics, but I prefer to speak about them with my family, with my wife, where we can sometimes disagree but we can discuss and it’s much easier when you have a (indiscernible) about this. That’s all I have to say.”