“In general after Australian Open I cannot find a huge result from myself, even if I made some finals, won one tournament,” he said. “I didn’t play bad. I mean, I’m in Torino in the top eight. But I would expect more from myself.”
Medvedev doesn’t lack confidence in his level or ability to compete with elite players. He’s just a bit depleted after losing his last eight matches against the ATP’s Top-10, and that’s understandable.
“Vienna and Astana I played great,” he said. “I mean, today I played great. Let’s be honest. I’m confident I’m going to be able to do something big in the future. Just need to continue working. Going to be sad for one, two days, then enjoy my days off, then get ready for the next season.”
Djokovic “in a league of his own” as is the Big Three
Asked if his rivalry with Djokovic (Djokovic leads 8-4 overall) was in a league of its own, Medvedev demurred. He says he shouldn’t be considered in the same breath as the world-beating 35-year-old, or any of the Big Three for that matter.
“Novak is a league of his own, that’s for sure, with Rafa and Roger,” he said. “Then it’s the rest. Maybe one moment somebody’s going to try to catch them number of slams or whatever, then we going to talk about it differently.
“I definitely don’t put myself in there. We had some tough battles. He’s leading in head-to-head, even if I won some important matches. Yeah, that’s all I can say. I definitely, definitely am not close to Novak. Maybe when we play, yes, but in general you cannot compare myself to him or any one of the big three.”
