Medvedev grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons when he lost to Taylor Fritz on Sunday. He received two warnings, the second carrying a point penalty, and threatened to retire during an exchange with the umpire.
He later admitted he was “too tired to fight” after a long season. And Medvedev wasn’t the only one who felt that way – Carlos Alcaraz voiced his agreement and said he was also mentally exhausted.
But the Russian looked like a new man when he returned for his second match two days later, breezing past Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-4.
Afterwards, Medvedev was asked to share his thoughts on the lengthy tennis season and proposed a radical change to cut off the end of the year. “About the schedule? I got this question not long ago. I think I found a good answer from my side,” he started.
“This year I only tried to play big tournaments. I think I only played three 500s. One preparation for Wimbledon. One Dubai, which was some time after Australian Open. One was Beijing, in the Shanghai swing, so it’s a good tournament to play.”
The former world No. 1 believes limiting the number of tournaments he plays has been crucial. And he wants to see the calendar built around the bigger events.
He continued: “I think somehow there should be, yeah, more bigger, important tournaments, which should be like, Okay, these are the tournaments where we define who is going to be top 10, like Masters 1000. You play good in them, you will be there.
“Yeah, the schedule should somehow be around them.”
Medvedev then used the recent tournaments as an example. After the Paris Masters, the last few spots at the ATP Finals had not yet been confirmed with three players fighting for the last two places.
Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and De Minaur all entered smaller ATP 250s to try and qualify. But they needn’t have worried in the end – Novak Djokovic pulled out of the ATP Finals which meant all three received a place in Turin.
“Like there should not be a 250 after Paris Bercy where Casper, Andrey and Alex have to go there, then they withdraw or something,” Medvedev added.
The Russian isn’t the only one who wants to see the season end on a high with a big Masters 1000 event – Nadal previously made a similar observation.
And Medvedev thinks the smaller tournaments should be reserved for those who need to play for ranking points.
He explained: “Yeah, I remember Rafa once said it. The season should finish earlier, then you put all the 250s after for people that want to continue playing. If you’re good enough, you finish the season in whatever, October, play in Masters. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t count the tournaments after.
“If you still feel like you need more points for Australian Open or more matches, you do it after. I think that’s something to consider because Carlos said it yesterday.”
The former ATP Finals champion believes his meltdown might have been avoided if he wasn’t so exhausted. “First match I had a meltdown because every match I go, I usually go with a willingness to fight till the end to win,” he said.
“When it doesn’t work your way, I get frustrated sometimes. This match basically went I don’t care. It’s good for me, I won. But I would lose the same score, you would not see one emotion on my face. I would be here talking happy, whatever. I go home Thursday. I’m okay.
“That’s not good when you play the Masters in Turin for huge money, huge points. I don’t care. 200 points, whatever. Good for me. Should be different.”
