Medvedev references Djokovic match as he explains Indian Wells injury

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Daniil Medvedev has provided an injury update after appearing to go over on his ankle during his Indian Wells match against Alexander Zverev. The fifth seed went over mid-point and needed a medical time out but persevered and went on to win 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-5. And Medvedev referenced one of his matches against Novak Djokovic as he explained why he didn’t retire against Zverev.

Medvedev’s Indian Wells hopes looked to be over for a brief moment during his round-of-16 clash with Zverev. The 27-year-old had already started another rant about the court speed before he went down on his ankle mid-way through the second set and stayed on the floor until the doctor came to the court.

The world No 6 had his ankle strapped before attempting to play again and looked hesitant in the early stages before he suddenly managed to break and get momentum on his side, going on to win a tight three-setter. And after the match, he explained his lack of experience with rolling his ankle while sharing his decision not to retire.

“Definitely not,” Medvedev said when asked if he could imagine winning a three-hour-and-17-minute battle when he first got injured. “I honestly, when I was lying on the ground, because as I say, the moment I fell down I was like try to stand up almost straightaway and the pain kicked in.”

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The 18-time title winner also admitted he was “scared” to walk to his bench after going down, adding: “Then even, what was it, the doctor came in first, and he said, Let’s go to the chair. I was, like, I don’t know, I’m scared to go to the chair. Then I was like, Okay, I try. So I went.”

Medvedev confessed that he did think he would have to retire from the match but was happy to see how he could play through the injury. He also referenced his Astana Open semi-final match against Djokovic as one of the exceptions where he immediately knew he had to stop.

“I thought I’m gonna retire. But I always like to give it a try. I had few times in my career where I thought I’m gonna retire, same, and I always give it a try,” he explained. “And if I cannot, that’s when I retire. Big example is the match against Novak, during the tiebreak I felt that I had torn the muscle. I knew it. So I finished the tiebreak, and I retired, because I knew that, well, I’m not going to play with a torn muscle.”

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Turning his attention back to his clash with Zverev, the 27-year-old added: “So if I would by myself feel that I tore the ligament there I would not play. There were two opinions which said I can continue to play unless I feel too painful. Yeah, was moving only better and better with adrenaline.”

Medvedev also said he had consulted with the ATP physio and his team given his lack of experience with rolling his ankle during tour-level matches. “I’ve never really rolled it. I remember rolling it few times on the futures, so it was not ATP physios who were taping it. It was long ago, so I didn’t know – that’s why I ask so many questions to the physio,” the fifth seed said.

“I was, like, Is it still dangerous? He told me, No, it’s not, unless you roll it again, but with the tape normally it’s not possible. So that assured me that I can kind of try it at least, and then if I cannot, I will retire. Then it was still pretty painful, so I asked my physio, It’s painful, but can I play or not? He said yes. So then I was like, okay, one more opinion where I can play.”

But Medvedev didn’t 100 per cent commit to his quarter-final clash with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, as he explained that he would have to keep taping the ankle and was “hoping” to play. He said: “Now, yeah, for some time I’m, for sure, going to need to tape it because the ankle becomes looser so if you don’t tape it you’re just going to roll it over and over and over until you break it. Yeah, gonna tape it for a couple of weeks, days, and hopefully can play tomorrow.”

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