Daniil Medvedev’s secret to a mid-match mental reset: Clean laundry! | ATP Tour

Match Report

Medvedev’s secret to a mid-match psychological reset: Clear laundry!

Seventh seed holds off Marozsan in Madrid opener; Tsitsipas beats Bublik

April 25, 2026

A mid-match outfit change represents greater than only a change of garments for Daniil Medvedev.

The previous No. 1 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings held his nerve for a 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 opening-round victory in opposition to Fabian Marozsan on Saturday on the Mutua Madrid Open, the place he later gave a bit of perception into one of many methods he can forge a psychological reset throughout a match. Medvedev, who raced to the primary set however quickly discovered himself right into a decider in opposition to Marozsan after letting slip a 4-2 lead within the second, revealed {that a} recent set of garments helped him regain composure after he misplaced the second-set tie-break.

“You may name it a superstition or not, however what I do is [this],” Medvedev mentioned, earlier than grabbing his shirt to clarify. “My shirt is moist. Even now it’s moist. Not soaking moist, however a bit of bit moist. So as soon as you are taking this soiled, moist stuff away and placed on one thing new, and when you do socks, shorts, t-shirt, underwear… generally sneakers [although] this time not… then it takes about three and a half minutes, and also you sort of overlook what occurred earlier than.”

No matter Medvedev did on this event, it labored. The 23-time tour-level titlist earned an important break within the tenth recreation of the third set to see off Marozsan and full his twentieth win of the season. It was a formidable return to profitable methods for a participant who was competing for the primary time since his gorgeous 0-6, 0-6 loss to Matteo Berrettini on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

“I believe I performed a great match on the whole, perhaps aside from a few factors,” Medvedev mentioned. “On clay it’s sort of a bit simpler to return again from a set and a break, so for him it was his final probability, and he managed to play significantly better.

“He was making fewer errors and altered the rhythm a bit extra. So I’m blissful that I managed to remain within the match. I believe within the third set, I used to be nearer to profitable it, and I lastly did, so I’m actually blissful about it.”

and breathe 🥵@DaniilMedwed marketing campaign begins with a hard-fought victory over Marozsan 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4! @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/0wAp62R8Jl

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 25, 2026

Medvedev received 79 per cent (50/63) of factors behind his first serve in opposition to Marozsan, based on Infosys ATP Stats. The 30-year-old’s subsequent take a look at in Madrid shall be a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly with Nicolai Budkov Kjaer: The #NextGenATP Norwegian, taking part in in his first ATP Masters 1000 main-draw after coming by qualifying, earlier stored up his breakout run by upsetting thirty first seed Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-1.

Stefanos Tsitsipas ousted eighth seed Alexander Bublik 6-2, 7-5 to earn his fourth Prime 20 win of the season and first on clay for the reason that 2024 Paris Olympics. Final season, Tsitsipas went 0-5 in opposition to Prime 20 gamers.

The Greek dropped simply two factors behind his first serve (33/35) and didn’t face a break level, serving to him enhance to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head collection with Bublik. The 27-year-old, who reached the Madrid ultimate in 2019, will subsequent face Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida, who beat twenty sixth seed Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-4.