Medvedev keeps his cool to battle past Bublik in Tokyo

Daniil Medvedev hopes his hard-fought first-round victory over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik sparks a deep run at Tokyo 2020 as it did when the duo met at Roland Garros earlier this season.

The ROC No. 2 seed battled through 6-4 7-6(8) in sweltering conditions on the Ariake Tennis Park’s Centre Court, where the Extreme Weather Policy has been in effect on Day 1 of the Olympic Tennis Event. The players would have been granted a 10-minute break before the third set had Medvedev not taken his third match point of a see-sawing tiebreak to seal victory in one hour, 41 minutes.

“It was a great match, I think,” said the world No. 2. “The tiebreak, I should have won it much easier, but it was so tough to play out there – that’s why we had some errors, maybe some stupid decisions. That’s what can happen when it’s hot like this.

With his variety and attacking all-court style, Bublik is a tough opening assignment in any draw. A loose opening service game cost him a first set devoid of further break points, but the world No. 40 showed his mettle by opening up a 3-0 lead early in the second, only to be pegged back three games later.

“There are a few players that you don’t want to play in the first round, like [Marton] Fucsovics, [Jan-Lennard] Struff, Bublik – I’ve played them a lot in first rounds lately, and it’s not easy,” Medvedev said. “In one way, when you look at this after it’s fun, but on the court it’s less fun and you’re just trying to win and get to the locker room as fast as possible.

“But the good thing is, you know that if you manage to go through this round, you’re going to have some momentum. That’s what happened at Roland Garros: it was not an easy match against him, but I managed to beat him and went on to win many matches in a row, so I hope it’s going to be the same here.”

The heat and humidity are set to be a factor all week in Tokyo, something Medvedev – who faces India's Sumit Nagal in the second round – admitted will be as much a test of character as conditioning out on court.

“It’s very mental,” he said. “You definitely know it’s not going to be fun. The only thing you can think about is that for your opponent it’s maybe going to be even tougher – and you need to make it so it’s tougher for him than for you. It’s him who’s got to suffer more, it’s him who’s going to take the heat. And it doesn’t always work like this – sometimes it’s me cramping and my opponent running all over the place, but that’s the only way you can try to still be in the match and not think about it.”

Asked how he would assess his performance overall, Medvedev said, “Not bad.

“I have some things I could have done better but I played not bad. The most important thing is to play each match better and better and have your best match in the final.”