Medvedev candid ahead of his Shanghai debut: "I expect nothing from myself"

Daniil Medvedev, former world number one, reflects on his desire to regain confidence at the highest level.

Medvedev is searching for confidence. The Russian, seeking an ATP Tour title since Rome two years ago, parted ways with his iconic coach Gilles Cervara after the US Open, but seems to have taken a step in the right direction after reaching the semifinals in Beijing last week.

The world number 18, who takes the court this Saturday against Czech player Dalibor Svrcina, world number 91, at the Shanghai Masters 1000, assessed his goals in this tournament which he won in 2019.

"I'm still far from where I want to be. Not in terms of tennis, but in terms of confidence, because you need to play many tournaments, one alone is not enough. The Beijing tournament was great, I won three very important matches against great opponents.

I almost beat (Learner) Tien in a very tough match. It didn't work out, but these things happen. I'm very eager to keep progressing at the Shanghai tournament. I expect nothing from myself.

I want to try to play well, as I did in Hangzhou and Beijing, I need to move forward step by step to get back to where I want to be. I love China, I feel good here, which can help me play well. I needed to try something new.

My tennis doesn't need much. When I parted ways with Gilles (Cervara), I didn't touch my racket for two weeks after the US Open. The day I started playing again, I reached my best level of the season, a level of tennis with which I can only lose to very few players.

That gave me confidence, I just had to find a way to translate it into matches. It was tough to change coaches. We tried everything, but something stopped working. It wasn't an easy decision, but I'm almost 30 and it's good to decide for myself where I want to go," Medvedev assured Punto de Break.