Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev, ranked fifth in the world, shared his impressions at an Almaty Open press conference about returning to the tournament, where he is the top seed and is defending the title he won last year, infohub.kz reports.
"The tournament is really great. Last year was my first time here. Before that I played in Astana [at an ATP 500] — the conditions are similar, the organization is the same. It's a good tournament — it's on the way to Europe anyway. In Shanghai I was with my wife and children. And they came here with me too," the athlete said, according to a NUR.KZ correspondent.
Medvedev explained why he chose not to skip the Almaty event in order to recover for a fresher showing in Paris and Turin. According to him, doing so would have meant giving up both Almaty and Vienna. "We decided to play everything. Skipping only Almaty made no sense. I like both tournaments, but Almaty especially, so I'll try to play as well as I can," he said.
The Russian named three specific reasons why he enjoys coming back to Almaty. "Great organization of the tournament. A pleasant atmosphere. And third — I won last year. That in any case means the court and the balls suit me," Medvedev noted.
The top seed could meet Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the semifinals. However, Medvedev urged against looking too far ahead and said he would take it one match at a time. "We haven't played each other in a long time. In general we rarely meet [on court]. But we're only set to face each other in the semifinals, and you have to go match by match. Every match is a tough story for both me and him. If we do get to play, I think the spectators will see a good match at a high level of tennis," concluded the former world No. 1.
Medvedev will begin his Almaty Open campaign in the second round, where he will face Japan's Sho Shimabukuro.