Medvedev looking forward to Miami with renewed confidence despite loss in Indian Wells final

The Russian heads to Miami with his win streak broken but his confidence restored

Antoine Couvercelle/Panoramic

March 20, 2023

Daniil Medvedev‘s win streak may have ended at 19 with his defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Sunday but the Russian says he’s more than happy with his start to the year.

The Russian won three straight events in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai to restore his confidence and even on a slow hard court in Indian Wells, he achieved his best result to date, having previously not gone beyond the quarter-finals.

“Disappointed with the result, but the week was amazing,” he told reporters. “Because Indian Wells, to make final, I mean, I’m just super happy and proud, because it’s a clay court on hard court. That’s a good result for me.

“A lot of points. A lot of things to see in the season. Started it really well. I made already more points than last year at that point. So yeah. I see only good things, and looking forward to Miami, for sure.”

Alcaraz was a convincing winner in Sunday’s final but Medvedev, who moved up to No 5 in the ATP rankings, said it’s not a defeat that will sit with him for long.

“I think this one I will get over pretty quickly,” Medvedev said. “Depends how many finals you lost in a row, what were your previous results. I don’t know. Sometimes how you’re feeling in life right now.

“Answering all these questions, I feel pretty well, I won three tournaments, I managed to make my best result in Indian Wells where before I couldn’t make it to quarters, and already my second match was three-setter.

“A lot of positives, for sure. I think this one, like I will be forever disappointed that I didn’t win the final, but I can laugh already and whatever, I’m gonna try to win the next one or win this one next year.”

Medvedev on his win streak: “Damn, one away from my record”

The only thing Medvedev did regret was losing his win streak.

“Damn, one away from my record. That’s actually disappointing,” he said, with a smile. “Oh, no, I’m really disappointed because I had 20 one time, if I’m not mistaken, 20 or 21, but I think it was 20. This would be cool to try to beat it and maybe try to prolong it as long as possible.

“It’s great to have these streaks. You feel great, because in the streaks you will always have maybe some easier by the ranking opponents but some top ones also. Unless you play, I don’t know, six 250s in a row, but that’s rare.

“Really disappointed that it ended, but a lot of confidence from this streak. Because last year, that’s what I was missing, kind of these streaks. I was doing sometimes finals, semis in Cincinnati, kind of playing good but not playing well enough in the semis. I managed to win 19 matches in a row. I’m proud of it, and now it’s time to try to build a new streak. There is no other way in tennis.”