Daniil Medvedev gets real about fatherhood, choosing careers after Roland Garros win

If Alisa Medvedeva grows up to be a tennis player, Daniil Medvedev has one wish for his daughter.

“I would be happy if she likes clay more than me!” the former world No. 1 joked after advancing into the third round of Roland Garros.

Since she was born in 2022, little Alisa has become a popular figure on tennis social media, with fans pointing out the family resemblance and the toddler’s bourgeoning personality. But Medvedev isn’t rushing his 18-month-old onto the court too quickly.

“As a parent, you want to see what she likes and can do well, because that’s still important in life, but you also don’t want to force her,” he told Prakash Amritraj and Steve Weissman at the Tennis Channel Live Desk. “So, it’s probably too early at the moment, but she likes the small racquet that she has. She likes playing with the ball, kicking it, as well. If she comes to tennis, I’m not sure I’ll be able to be there for the matches. I will be too stressed!”

With the grind of tour life consuming most of his time, the No. 5 seed credited wife Daria spends most days with Alisa, conceding, “With me she’s easy. When we are together, she’s not having too much of a character and is going with the flow. I like to make jokes with my wife where I go, ‘You told me she was screaming earlier, but with me she was fine!’”

But Medvedev can wax philosophic on fatherhood with the best of them, musing about his own upbringing and the role his parents played in guiding him towards a career in tennis.

“If I would have chosen myself at 10 years old, I’m not sure I would have gone to tennis,” he admitted, later clarifying, “At 10, sometimes you want to go to space, and you can become an astronaut. Sometimes you want to go, I don’t know, to the circus, or sometimes you want to become a flower guy. You never know.

“At the time, my parents were giving me a lot of opportunities and somehow, with tennis, it kind of clicked together. We started playing tournaments, I started practicing more. My father wanted me to play, and I think I liked it myself, but if it was only me deciding, I think after one defeat I would have said, ‘Ok, bye!’ You lose 7-6 in the third and I’d’ve been ready to say, ‘Ok, next time in 30 years!’”

Medvedev has gotten better at shaking off disappointments, particularly on his least favorite surface, and has been rewarded with a solid—if unspectacular—clay swing. Given the lows the 2021 US Open champion has endured on clay in years past, he’ll take a four-setter against Dominik Koepfer and a retirement from Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the third round for only the third time in eight Roland Garros appearances.

“A lot more players are playing better or are less scared,” he said, commenting on the open feel to the men’s draw. “When I played Tommy [Paul] in Rome, I, myself, could do many things better, but he came there, crushed me and went on to the next match. It is what it is. Let’s see, because the top five or six seeds are still the same, so we’ll see who’s in the semis to think about it.”

Medvedev will next face No. 31 seed Mariano Navone or Tomas Machac, who stunned Novak Djokovic just last week at the Gonet Geneva Open.