Cincinnati [US], August 14 : The World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev is optimistic about an uptick in form at Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati after a disappointing quarterfinal exit in Toronto to eventual finalist Alex de Minaur.
Medvedev is attempting to qualify for the ATP Finals for the fifth time in a row. This season, he has already won five titles, including ATP Masters 1000 triumphs in Miami and Rome.
“In Toronto, not a bad tournament, but I was not at my best. So I hope... to try to raise my level higher and higher and to play at my best before the US Open," ATP quoted Medvedev as saying.
While talking about the upcoming Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Medvedev said, "It's my last tournament before the US Open, an important tournament, Masters 1000. In Toronto, unfortunately, I didn't do everything that I wanted to do with my game. So I have a couple of days to try to get it working here and then of course, most important is going to be to try to win the matches. The draw is pretty packed, I would say very strong, which is normal. So looking forward [to it]."
Medvedev led De Minaur in each set, but was unable to put the Australian away, and paid the price with an elimination in the final eight. The good news for the third-ranked player in the ATP Rankings is that he believes he has figured out what was wrong with his game in Canada.
“I felt like I was missing a little bit one shot where I could just hit the guy straight away and put him in trouble. So I'm going try to do this. Two, three days I have in practice and hopefully I can integrate it also during the tournament," Medvedev said.
"But the thing is that the practice is so different to [the] tournament. So as I said, you try to work on something in practice, but it really doesn't matter [unless] you're going to be able to do it in the match. But that's what you're trying to do," the World No.3 stated.
Medvedev has had a nice stretch of the season in the past. Through the end of the year, four of his six Masters 1000 victories had come from Canada. Despite losing in the quarter-finals in Toronto, he is eager to move on, beginning with an enticing match against Washington winner Daniel Evans or Lorenzo Musetti.
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