Daniil Medvedev assesses his own level of tennis ahead of Roland Garros and suggests whether he truly feels he can win the tournament

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Daniil Medvedev will play at the French Open for the ninth time in his career, in pursuit of a second Grand Slam title.

Following the Roland Garros men’s draw, the former US Open champion enters the tournament as the 11th seed and is set to play Cam Norrie in the first round.

Medvedev fell out of the world’s top 10 in late March after a first-round exit at the Miami Open, and currently sits 11th in the ATP rankings.

The former world number one, who hasn’t won a title since his triumph at the Italian Open in 2023, spoke about his drop-off ahead of the second major of the year.

Daniil Medvedev says he is ‘not far from a great level’ ahead of Roland Garros

Speaking in his pre-tournament press conference on his drop in the rankings, Medvedev said: “It’s tough to say because now we’re on clay, and on clay I personally feel like I’m playing the best level of my life on clay.

“Even considering Rome, a lot of things came together, but if we talk about the game, the movement, the feeling of the game, I do think I’ve played my best season on clay.

“On hard courts, I’m far from the Daniil that I was. On clay, I feel like I’m even better than before. That’s good for Roland Garros, and I will try to show it.”

He said later on in the press conference: “I’m really not far from a great level, and when I say great level, [I mean] where everything is possible, where finals are possible, where Grand Slams are possible.”

Daniil Medvedev’s drop in the ATP rankings during the 2025 season

Medvedev began the season as world number five, but quickly dropped to seventh in the ATP rankings after crashing out of the Australian Open in the second round.

He climbed back to number six following a semi-final appearance at the Qatar Open in February, but fell back to eighth after losing in the final four at Indian Wells, where he made the final the year before.

The Russian then suffered an early exit at the Miami Open, losing to Jaume Munar in straight sets, which saw his ranking drift even further to 11.

Despite briefly re-entering the top ten in April, Medvedev remains 11th in the world, but has a chance to earn big points at Roland Garros, where he lost in the fourth round last year.