Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are two of the closest friends on the ATP Tour, so much so that Rublev is godfather to Medvedev’s daughter. But in the nine Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, they have also become familiar enemies on the court.
Medvedev, who leads the series 7-2 after winning in straight sets on Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals, says he is able to put their relationship to one side, between the lines.
“To be honest, on the pitch, I don’t know what it’s like for him – for me on the pitch, there’s no friends, no enemies. I’m just trying to win the match. I don’t think about anything else.
“But when the last point is down, it’s like I feel sorry for him, he lost the match. But it’s the same for him. If he beats me, I mean, last year was brutal when he beat me [in Turin]. So I felt for a day or two that he was somewhat shy to speak to me, being careful.
“It’s the same. You always try to look at him and see if tomorrow we can talk normally. I’ll tell him good luck, go for the next games and he’ll probably say the same.”
So how long does Medvedev need to cool off after a loss?
“It depends on the person. Me, usually – it depends on the match – but generally I probably need an hour, around that. It depends on the match. Sometimes two. Sometimes 30 minutes. I kind of laugh about it. I’ll definitely be disappointed, but I can talk to people, laugh about it.
“I think Andrei needs a little more time, but that’s how it is.”
Medvedev’s next match is against Alexander Zverev on Wednesday, when Rublev meets Carlos Alcaraz. Medvedev and Zverev are both 1-0 after the German defeated Alcaraz in three sets earlier on Monday.
While the result was an upset of the seeding, Medvedev was not surprised by the score, considering the recent form of both players.
“If you asked me two, three months ago, sure [I would be surprised]”, he said. “Tennis is a very, very difficult sport. Right now, for whatever reason, we feel like Carlos is playing a little slower. He doesn’t have the same confidence he’s had all year. This can happen to anyone. This even happened to Novak when he was younger. The question is how quickly will he recover? Will it be this tournament or next year?
“When he lost the second set, they showed the speed of the strokes, the ground. Sascha was like 10km [per hour] taller than Carlos. This is very strange. Generally when I saw the match, at the beginning we felt that Carlos is not playing his best. Sasha too. So I’m not surprised at all.
“In the end it turned out to be a great match and a great match. No surprises. Sasha can also play well, serve well. It will be interesting to play him for the 18th time.”
If that number sounds excessive, it’s not. Medvedev leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head against Zverev 10-7, including wins in four of their five meetings this season.