{"id":695405,"date":"2026-05-26T18:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/695405\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:30:12","slug":"medvedevs-roland-garros-exit-four-reasons-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/695405\/","title":{"rendered":"Medvedev\u2019s Roland-Garros Exit: Four Reasons Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniil Medvedev lost his first-round Roland-Garros match on Tuesday afternoon to the Australian Adam Walton<\/a>, world No. 109, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4<\/a>. It was his seventh first-round Slam loss in his last ten majors. The news confirmed that the Russian is unpreditable. The loss came two weeks after he had taken Jannik Sinner<\/a> to the brink in the Rome semi-final<\/a>, the strongest performance of his clay swing \u2013 and four weeks after a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini<\/a> in Monte-Carlo, the first double-bagel of his career.<\/p>\n

The heat , again 30+ degrees on Tuesday noon, was not the reason. \u201cI felt okay with the heat,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy for anyone to play in this heat, but I felt okay with it. Generally, I felt like we were fresh, okay in the fifth, like we were running and stuff like this. Nobody was cramping or something. I don\u2019t think the heat played any role.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why did he lose? Medvedev was pretty open to explore with the media.<\/p>\n

\"DaniilDaniil Medvedev, Roland-Garros 2026 | \u00a9 Zuma \/ PsNewz<\/p>\n

1. Medvedev didn\u2019t increase his level<\/p>\n

The score sheet told the story: a 6-2 set lost, a 6-1 set won, a 6-1 set lost, a 6-1 set won, a 6-4 set lost. Five sets of inconsistent tennis, and on his own framing the reason was simple. \u201cHe played good some moments, some moments not that good, and I managed to take the match when he didn\u2019t play that well. That\u2019s it. I didn\u2019t manage to raise my level enough to win the whole match, and that\u2019s why I lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deeper problem, on his account, is what he can and cannot do when the ball is not coming off the racquet the way he wants it to. \u201cMy tennis depends on a couple of things that I cannot control. If the ball doesn\u2019t go, I don\u2019t have the power to make it go. For Jannik, it doesn\u2019t matter. If the ball doesn\u2019t go, he hits it full power. If the ball goes, he just makes a big adjustment and doesn\u2019t go full power. Me, if I go full power, and if the ball doesn\u2019t go, it doesn\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"\"
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s very tough for me to get the rhythm going. The first round is the toughest one, and once I get through it, maybe I can do better.<\/p>\n

2. Medvedev just need to adapt<\/p>\n

The Walton loss was Medvedev\u2019s seventh first-round Slam loss in his last ten majors. It is a pattern Medvedev now acknowledges as systemic, not coincidental, and he gave the most substantive answer he has offered on it in a year. \u201cI do feel like I was, and I do think I am still usually good at Grand Slams. Yes, I can lose, even now first round, but I don\u2019t think \u2013 if I may say \u2013 I\u2019ve lost the ability to perform at Grand Slams. So I do think it can come back any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The structural problem, on his account, is not his form. It is the modern game. \u201cIf we compare all four Grand Slams to five years ago, the game is different at these Grand Slams, and I don\u2019t think it suits me well. So it\u2019s very tough for me to get the rhythm going. The first round is the toughest one, and once I get through it, maybe I can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cfive years ago\u201d timeline puts the change at roughly 2020-2021 \u2014 the period in which the men\u2019s game has restructured around heavier topspin baseliners and quicker shot tolerances. Medvedev\u2019s flat, deep, return-everything style was built for a slightly different version of the modern Slam. His own admission is that the Slams have moved without him.<\/p>\n

3. He is not an early-morning player<\/p>\n

Medvedev\u2019s match against Walton started at 11 in the morning. He volunteered, unprompted, that this is not his preferred situation, and the answer he gave was characteristically self-aware.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like to stand up early, and I\u2019m usually less performative when I get up at 6:15 in the morning. I like to sleep in. So this is just part of it. In general, in tennis you need to adapt to the things, and sometimes I\u2019m not good enough to adapt to it, and sometimes I am. That\u2019s basically all I can tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DaniilDaniil Medvedev, Roland-Garros 2026 | \u00a9 Gepa \/ PsNewz<\/p>\n

4. Possibly pressure management<\/p>\n

Asked directly by Tennis Majors whether the seventh first-round Slam loss in ten majors was the result of pressure, emotion or ambition management at the Slams, Medvedev hedged but did not deny it. \u201cIt is possible,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, I do feel like I was, and I think I am still usually good at Grand Slams. Yes, I can lose, but I don\u2019t think, if I may say, I\u2019ve lost the ability to perform at Grand Slams.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Russian-language portion of the same answer was more revealing. Asked how he processes a tactical mistake during a match, Medvedev described smashing his racquet as a release valve for his anger at himself. \u201cWhen I do that, let\u2019s say \u2014 it means I\u2019m angry with myself. At myself, in moments where I made a mistake or made a wrong tactical decision. And in those moments I get angry, and when I\u2019m angry, I try to relieve the stress that way. Dasha [his wife] is my main support, so sometimes I talk with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. And the reason he won\u2019t give<\/p>\n

Then there is the reason that, by Medvedev\u2019s own framing, sits behind the other four. He brought it up himself and refused to elaborate. \u201cI don\u2019t want to find excuses,\u201d he said in English. \u201cI know why I don\u2019t really always play my best in Roland-Garros. But if I say it, it\u2019s excuses. So I keep it to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

He repeated the same framing in Russian, even more explicitly. \u201cI think I know the reasons for myself, but let\u2019s say \u2013 that\u2019s excuses. So I don\u2019t want to get into that. Because it might not be true. Maybe I just wasn\u2019t strong enough mentally, physically, or in some other way, or in tennis, and I lost. But I do consider that one of the reasons doesn\u2019t entirely depend on me. It\u2019s something we can work on, but I\u2019m not managing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think it can come back any moment\u201d, he added. At Wimbledon<\/a>, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniil Medvedev lost his first-round Roland-Garros match on Tuesday afternoon to the Australian Adam Walton, world No. 109,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-695405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}