'Daniil Medvedev needs to improve his tennis' - Mats Wilander on star's huge potential ahead of French Open

Published 29/03/2022 at 06:56 GMT

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander has shared his views on Daniil Medvedev's huge potential ahead of the French Open and made it clear that he believes the star has enormous scope to improve. "He needs to improve his tennis on slow hard courts. He needs to improve it on the clay court. He needs to improve it on the grass court. The goal is to improve and Daniil Medvedev needs to improve his tennis."

‘Djokovic suddenly the favourite’ – Wilander predicts 21st Grand Slam for Novak

Daniil Medvedev can still make very significant improvements to his game if he has the right mindset to take his tennis to the next level, according to Mats Wilander.

The world No. 2 cruised past Britain's Andy Murray, a two-time champion at the Miami Open, on Saturday and is looking to again usurp Novak Djokovic at the top of the ATP rankings with the Serb unable to travel to the USA due to being unvaccinated.

Medvedev rose to world No. 1 for a fleeting period ahead of Indian Wells, but his early exit to Gael Monfils in the California desert resulted in him almost immediately dropping back below Djokovic at the summit of the men’s game.

ATP Rome

Are Nadal, Alcaraz, Djokovic playing Italian Open? When does it start?

21 hours ago

Despite his sustained rise over the last two years, Medvedev remains a hard-court specialist who thrives on particular court speeds, leaving plenty of room for further potential if he can expand his mastery on other types of surfaces.

Wilander has made it clear that he believes Medvedev must try to focus on becoming an all-court player, having already achieved two lifelong goals over the past six months.

"Well, first of all, I have no idea how, if you are a Russian citizen, the war could not affect you somehow emotionally. I mean, I really think that's important to point out," Wilander told Eurosport.

"Now, if you put that aside - which is impossible to do, but if you're able to do that - Daniil Medvedev has achieved the two goals in his tennis career.

Nadal 'pushed his body too much' - Wilander after Spaniard's latest injury

"He won a Grand Slam and he became world No. 1. So what is the third goal after that? The third goal goes back to what we did when we were young. The goal is to improve and Daniil Medvedev needs to improve his tennis.

"Not on fast hard courts, but he needs to improve his tennis on slow hard courts. He needs to improve it on the clay court. He needs to improve it on the grass court.

"So 75% of the year is not played on Daniil Medvedev's favourite surface. So he needs to turn that ratio around where 75% of the time he feels like he's playing in an environment that makes him play his best tennis.

"That's not the case with Daniil Medvedev… But because he's won a Grand Slam because he has become the world No. 1, he's achieved that.

"Forget it now, Daniil, it's time to go back to work and become a better tennis player."

Highlights: Medvedev defeats Murray in Miami Open second round

Wilander has also backed Djokovic to claim a 21st Grand Slam title at the French Open in May.

Djokovic appears free to defend his Roland Garros title after France relaxed its rules surrounding Covid vaccine passports. Vaccine passports will no longer be required in France from March 14, with the French Open due to start on May 22.

Wilander believes that if Djokovic can get three tournaments under his belt, then the Serb will enter the second Grand Slam of the year as the favourite.

“So he's going to be well-rested in his mind, in his heart,” Wilander told Eurosport.

“Physically, he has been able to set up his training schedule perfectly, at least the way that he would want to.

“Of course, he would have liked to play more matches, but if he gets to three tournaments and maybe [plays] 10 to 15 matches, he goes into Roland Garros as maybe the favourite to win the tournament.

'That was just ridiculous' - Djokovic's top five shots in 2021

“Now that Rafael Nadal is maybe not going to have the perfect preparation, Djokovic suddenly becomes the favourite," he continued.

“But he most probably needs a little bit of confidence in some of the tournaments that lead up to the French.

“But that's great news because we don't want to see the rat race end with Rafa Nadal having a fractured rib, with Roger Federer having surgeries on his body and with Djokovic not being able to play tennis because of vaccination issues when it comes to Covid-19.

“So hopefully we can get all three of them back healthy in the right state of mind. And just for one tournament, I'd like to see the three of them play again. That's going to be the biggest tournament of all time in the history of professional tennis.”

The French Open begins on May 22.

- - -

Stream the 2022 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+

ATP Madrid