Daniil Medvedev calls for larger tennis courts ahead of Italian Open 2023

Daniil Medvedev (Source: Twitter)

Daniil Medvedev expressed his frustration with the restricted court dimensions and called for larger tennis courts ahead of his opening match at the ATP Masters 1000 Italian Open in Rome. The Russian international questioned why his Madrid Open encounter was not played on the centre court, claiming that it hindered him from playing his best tennis.

Medvedev faced Aslan Karatsev in the fourth round on a smaller court in Madrid, and he stated during his pre-tournament press conference at the Italian Open that there was not enough room behind the baseline for him to return as he would have liked.

"Playing Karatsev on the second court, I had a disadvantage. Didn't allow me to play my 100% tennis, even if I was probably at 98%. That's disappointing because it was same, practice courts are always smaller. On his serve, I didn't have many opportunities, and that was really disappointing," Medvedev said.

The former world No. 1 also said that he would like every tennis court to be 10 metres long and 10 metres wide, which he realizes is not possible. "From one point of view, I understand probably all the tournaments in the world cannot make all the match courts as big as I want or some other players want. At the same time, it's a disadvantage.

"Yeah, I would love every tennis court to be 10 meters large and 10 meters wide, but I also understand it's not possible. Every time I'm not going to have my space on the return, I'm going to be disappointed because I cannot play my best tennis," the 27-year-old added.

Now I feel great physically: Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev, who has won 19 ATP Tour singles titles, said he was physically unwell during the Madrid Open and that did not allow him to practice the way he wanted. However, before heading to Rome, the current world No. 3 said he is fit and working on small things with his coach.

"I had some physical problems so I didn't have a lot of time to practice the small things I maybe wanted to practice before Madrid. That was a pity. After Madrid, physically I felt well. I knew I could practice full. That's great. So now I feel great physically. Every day I'm trying to put a strong session and try to work small things with my coach, for sure," he said.