Saturday saw Russian tennis sensation Daniil Medvedev sail smoothly through his Indian Wells opener, followed by an audacious on-camera message aimed at Carlos Alcaraz. In his inaugural match at this American tournament, Medvedev dispatched Yunchaokete Bu in straight sets of 6-2, 6-2. But the real drama unfolded post-match, when Medvedev chose to respond to Alcaraz’s complaints about the state of the court with a sharp retort.
Tennis tradition allows players to leave messages or signatures on the camera lens using a marker post-match. Medvedev, however, swayed from the norm of thanking fans, instead using this opportunity to mockingly address Alcaraz, scribing: “6-2, 6-2, 1h 36m, very fast court [happy face].”
In the post-match interview, the Russian flipped the narrative on its head, declaring the court was quite the contrary. “It’s probably the slowest court I’ve ever played in my life,” said Medvedev, “Everyone’s experience of this court differs. Ask Sascha [Alexander Zverev] or Casper [Ruud], they’ll confirm it’s slow. At one point, I doubted if hitting a winner was even possible.”
These seemingly contradictory remarks make sense in light of Alcaraz’s recent criticism of the Indian Wells court. The Spaniard had expressed his bafflement over the organizers’ decision to lay a fresh court surface before the tournament. Several players, including Zverev and Ruud, had reported an unusual speed of the ball due to the new surface, which also saw them make a shock early exit from the tournament.
Alcaraz, on March 4, had voiced his confusion, “The court is faster, right? It’s a change I didn’t understand. The tournament had the same court for 25 years, and now it’s changed. I don’t understand the reason behind it. I need to practice on it. I believe I can adapt my game to the surface and conditions. Despite the faster courts, I play great tennis. But I didn’t understand the change when I saw it.”
Medvedev is not the only one who disagrees with Alcaraz’s perspective. Holger Rune advocated for faster courts, claiming they will enhance the ATP Tour’s play. “The balls are slow these days,” Rune noted, “A slightly faster court, in contrast, makes the game more intriguing. There are too many fast balls on fast courts and slow balls on slow courts. Tournaments like Indian Wells are striving to strike a balance, which is beneficial for the players.”
As the controversy over the court’s speed continues, Alcaraz is set to demonstrate his adaptability when he faces off against Quentin Halys in his first match of the tournament on Saturday evening.
