Daniil Medvedev explains why he finds Indian Wells a ‘strange place’ as he makes it through to round three

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Daniil Medvedev says Indian Wells is a ‘strange place’ for him to play after winning his opening match at this year’s tournament.

Medvedev received a bye in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in California, before beating Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-2.

The Russian superstar is the 11th seed at Indian Wells, and will now play against Sebastian Baez in the round of 32.

Ahead of that match, however, he has expressed the strange feeling he always has about playing at Indian Wells.

Daniil Medvedev discusses quick turnaround from Dubai to Indian Wells

ATP number 11 Medvedev said after beating Tabilo: “Yeah, Indian Wells, is a strange place for me, because in a way, coming here, and especially the first days where it’s, like, the jet lag cannot be bigger from Dubai, and I always play Dubai.

“So it’s always you come here, it’s a 12-hour time difference, the court is completely different from Dubai.

“Even the balls feel different even if, for example, this year the same, but because of the court.

“First two, three days, usually I’m, like, okay there is no chance I’m winning the first round.

“Actually, this year was a bit different. Then I managed to play well. The last three years were unbelievable here, great results.

“So I love coming back here. I love the place itself without talking about tennis.

“I’m looking forward for more this year, and the match today was mostly very high level. I’m very happy with myself.”

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Can Daniil Medvedev clinch maiden Indian Wells title?

Despite his quick turnaround from Dubai, it was a reasonably comfortable first win for Medvedev, who needed one hour and 10 minutes to secure the victory.

It was his first match since clinching the trophy in Dubai, where Tallon Griekspoor withdrew injured just before their final.

Medvedev is now a 23-time champion on the ATP Tour, and finally won the same tournament twice for the first time in his career.

He is now chasing further career history at Indian Wells, having never lifted the trophy at Tennis Paradise despite his fantastic form there of late.

Medvedev reached the Indian Wells final in both 2023 and 2024, but lost out to Carlos Alcaraz on both occasions.

Intriguingly, and perhaps positively for the Russian, he could meet the Spaniard in this year’s semifinals as opposed to another final.

Before that, however, he might still face unenviable matches against Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic, while Jannik Sinner is a possible final opponent.

Medvedev is also playing doubles at this year’s tournament alongside Learner Tien, with the duo meeting Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech in their opening match.