The Western & Southern Open will begin the ATP Tour's restart starting this weekend with Daniil Medvedev the man to beat 12 months ago in Cincinnati.

A new complexion though this time around has seen Coronavirus pay heed to it being held there with New York it's new base and for Medvedev, he hasn't played in a number of months.

But in a virtual press conference over Zoom on Friday, the World No.5 has admitted he has been practising hard and has almost been living a 'normal life' during lockdown.

“If I didn’t feel safe to come, it would have been an easy decision, but I like to play tennis; I’ve missed competing and I’m happy to be here,” said Medvedev.

“I’ve been in Monaco, all the time, for six months. We tried to make the best of the lockdown with my coach [Gilles Cervara]. I started practising really hard, but when we found out the suspension was going to be longer than expected, we took time off to stay fresh.

“It was like leading a normal life. It was a new time, because when you’re 12 or 14 [years of age], you begin travelling to tournaments. But it was really interesting and fun in Monaco and the south of France, with my wife. But I’m really happy to be back on Tour and leading the life of a professional tennis player once more.”

“I’m happy to see where my game is at,” he continued. “I always play to win [and] I definitely have the competitive juices flowing. I think there will be a lot of interesting matches and results. I’m sad there won’t be a New York crowd, but it’s a decision that had to be taken this year. It’s going to be strange as the tournament progresses not to have a crowd, but you play to win.”

“I am taking it match by match first, to find where my level is at this tournament. I don’t know what to expect. It’s unusual that 150 players haven’t played for six months… I hope I will be able to play well and win some matches.”