INDIAN WELLS
\nDaniil Medvedev makes no secret of his antipathy for the slow hard courts of Indian Wells, but the Russian admitted Tuesday he\u2019d do better to shut up and play rather than vocally venting his frustration in every match.
\n\u201cI do think it actually distracts me, and I would be better just shutting up and playing,\u201d Medvedev said after beating Alexander Zverev 6-7 (5\/7), 7-6 (7\/5), 7-5 in a wild fourth-round match in which he won the second set despite a badly twisted ankle and 10 break chances for his opponent.
\nHe reached the last eight at Indian Wells for the first time, but admitted he wasn\u2019t sure if he\u2019d be able to take the court against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina because of his ankle.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s big,\u201d he said of his swollen ankle. \u201cI cannot walk properly. But if everything is going to be fine, I\u2019m going to tape it, take one painkiller, and go to play.\u201d
\nAgainst Zverev, Medvedev said, he was surprised to find that even though he had trouble walking, in mid-point his movement was just fine, perhaps because he was concentrating on the task at hand.
\nThe injury may also have helped break his fixation on the speed of the courts, which he has railed against all week \u2013 and in editions past.
\nFor the second straight match he threatened to take a bathroom break \u201cas slow as the court\u201d as he ranted on a changeover.
\n\u201cWhat a shame to call this awful court hard court,\u201d he fumed from his chair. \u201cIt\u2019s a disgrace to sport this court.\u201d
\nMedvedev said he knows reining in such displays is what he \u201cshould do,\u201d but he wasn\u2019t sure he\u2019d ever be able to bottle it up entirely.
\n\u201cThis high-intensity sport where you are one on one against the opponent brings the heat out of you,\u201d he said. \u201cSome players are capable of controlling it better than the others. Some are controlling it less, like me. That\u2019s my character and that\u2019s my personality.\u201d Medvedev said he had no interest in banding with other players to try and force a change in the playing surface.
\n\u201cI understand that maybe out of 96 players, actually 60 are going to say the court is fine. That\u2019s just my problem.\u201d
\nHe\u2019ll keep working to limit the on-court histrionics \u201cbecause I want to be remembered not definitely for my tantrums but more for my game and for my good parts of my personality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INDIAN WELLS Daniil Medvedev makes no secret of his antipathy for the slow hard courts of Indian Wells, but the Russian admitted Tuesday he\u2019d do better to shut up and play rather than vocally venting his frustration in every match. \u201cI do think it actually distracts me, and I would be better just shutting up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-319762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n