Coach Gilles Cervara suggested he is not a fan of strict coaching as he loves to have a close relationship with his player. Cervara has established himself as one of the top coaches on the ATP Tour, having guided Medvedev to a Grand Slam title and a No.
2 ranking. “I follow the philosophy of Yin and Yang and Medvedev also likes this approach. Today relationships are based very much on hardness, while I also like to treat the aspect of sweetness and empathy,” Cervara told L’Equipe, as revealed by Mario Boccardi.
Cervara did an exceptional job in the US Open final
The tactics Cervara prepared for Medvedev against Djokovic were nothing short of exceptional as the Russian dominated the Serb 6-4 6-4 6-4 to win his maiden Grand Slam title.
Medvedev lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open earlier in the year and Cervara was determined not to let that happen again. “First of all, after the final in Australia, we had the feeling that Daniil didn’t have this fire that can helps your game to be much stronger, especially against a player like Novak.
So this had to change for sure to play this final at another level,” Cervara said after Medvedev won the US Open. “Our feeling yesterday and today was that he was ready to compete and to be at high level. That’s the first part.
I will say more mental part, energy part. And in the game we had couple of strategies, especially sometimes to play more down the middle, to not open so much angle and to run a lot. “Of course, it’s easy to say there is not a magic things.
You have to play at your best, to have quality in your shots, also to know that strategy can change during the match because Novak will adapt during the match. You have to feel when you need to do something different. “He had, yeah, couple strategies in his head to be ready for different situations.
Of course, to serve good was one of the keys. He served very good today. Maybe not at the end, but with the pressure, the tension, it’s a bit different.”