Daniil Medvedev returned to competition in Madrid on Wednesday with a blunt memory still attached to his name: the 6-0, 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo that ended his run on April 8. Speaking at Media Day for the Mutua Madrid Open 2026, Medvedev said the result meant something had gone badly wrong and that a double bagel hurt because of the humiliation.
"When you lose 6-0 and 6-0… clearly something went wrong," he said, adding that at this level "you can't lose like that" and that the day in Monte Carlo was not right. Medvedev had not competed since April 8 before his return in Madrid, and he said it took him a whole week to get back into rhythm and understand what he needed to do after the defeat. The gap before his next tournament, he said, gave him time to train calmly.
Medvedev, who is ranked No. 10, said his relationship with clay remains normal and that he can play on the surface, even if it has never been a particularly friendly one for him. He described clay as a surface full of unpredictable factors, likening it to playing FIFA because so much can happen that is outside a player's control. "For example, bad bounces on clay," he said. "You can do everything right and still miss a shot, that's frustrating for the player."
That is why, Medvedev said, he prefers to go for definitive shots on clay, accepting the risk rather than waiting for the surface to decide the point. The contrast between his words and the scoreboard in Monte Carlo was the sharpest part of his return to the public eye: a player known for control describing a surface that often strips it away. He said he is playing better now, but Madrid will offer the first real test of whether the time off and the training block have done enough.
Medvedev was scheduled to face the winner of Quinn versus Marozsan in the second round in Madrid, a draw that gives him a chance to turn the page after a loss that still clearly lingers. The tennis world had not seen him compete since April 8, and his first answers in Madrid suggested that the memory of that day still carries weight. What comes next will show whether the reset he described in Madrid is enough to make the clay season feel less like a trap and more like a chance.