Medvedev looks to be inspired by Sharapova to transition into clay-court dominance: "I slide not before but after the shot, maybe I'm scared"

Daniil Medvedev is looking to Maria Sharapova as inspiration to overcome his clay tennis woes as he hopes to show off an improved level on the surface this year.

Medvedev has been pretty open about his dislike of clay court calling the surface 'damaged' in more than a few tirades over the years. The Russian is able to play rather well on it when he tries but getting past his dislike has been challenging. He revealed that he'll look for inspiration from Sharapova who was in a similar situation.

She hated playing on clay earlier in her career but went on to become an excellent player on the surface even winning two Roland Garros trophies. That's the only grand slam she won twice. Medvedev said:

“True, I forgot about that. Yes [I can be inspired by Sharapova's journey]. And that’s true, I never was able to move really well on clay. I slide not before the shot, but after the shot, because I don’t know, maybe I’m scared or something."

He added:

"In Doha, the [hard] court was really slow, probably one of the slowest, together with Rotterdam a few years back. And my wife told me that my coach Gilles was watching me play, and I was running everywhere, doing lobs, returning smashes, and he was like, ‘Damn, if Daniil could move well on clay, I think he would be unbeatable."

And conluded with:

“Of course I’m trying to work on it. I’m sure I can be even bigger on clay, I just need a really good day, or basically two weeks, which on hard courts sometimes I can be off a few days and still win and then get back into the rhythm."