On fast hard courts, the serve is key," Medvedev discusses the American tour

For his opening match in Washington, Daniil Medvedev battled through three sets against Reilly Opelka. For him, facing a big server like Opelka is a challenge on this type of surface.

Speaking to Tennis Channel, he explained: "Honestly, especially now, you never know exactly what the surface will be like at the US Open, Cincinnati, or Toronto. But generally speaking, these are fast hard courts, and on these courts, the serve is the most important element.

For example, as the match against Opelka showed, when you feel that no matter what happens in the rallies, you’re almost certain to face a tie-break, you can then put more pressure on the return.

I’m one of those players who often targets the opponent’s serve. If you look purely at return statistics, I’m almost always in the top five in terms of percentage of points won and number of breaks.

So yes, the serve is key. It immediately puts the opponent under pressure. And from there, you can build the rest of your game. The serve and return are the foundation.