'Sorry guys, I’m not coming, I didn’t wake up' - Daniil Medvedev reveals distaste for early event scheduling, threatens to boycott in future

Former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev was not at all pleased with the earlier start times for matches, with him going as far as saying that he will 'boycott' matches when he reaches the age of 35.

The earlier scheduled times for ties are tactically deployed by the ATP and WTA in an attempt to make sure matches are finished by night time, incase of any long matchups, specifically in Grand Slams where men's matches go up to five sets. They have limited matches per court to five a day, and made certain that night sessions do not take place later than 7:30pm, which can lead to early starts for some players.

Along with that, it is for the aid of fans who travel to watch these tournaments live. They want the on-lookers to have the best fan experience they possibly can have, preventing them from leaving the court at ridiculously late times.

Despite the ATP and WTA trying to aid the players, some of them are not going with it, and one specific example is Medvedev, who revealed the ruthless schedule of a tennis player, and how much a scheduled time impacts the player, with the Russian revealing that he is forced to wake up at 6am to make sure he can fully prepare for an 11am matchup.

When speaking to the Guardian, he said: "I was talking to my team today. I told them: 'When I’m 35, I’ll boycott 11 a.m. matches.' I’ll explain: 'Sorry guys, I’m not coming. I didn’t wake up. Default win for you.' For me, 11 a.m. is too early. You have to get up at 6:30, whereas if you play at night, you can wake up at 9. It changes your approach to the match. Mentally, it’s crazy."

Tennis is not as easy as wake up, go to the court, and play your game. There is a lot of on-the-day preparation that goes into every tie, with meticulous pre-match warm-up and preparations prepared for each player. Not only warming up, but a nutritious breakfast/meal, a full warm-up on and off court to prevent injuries, and to get you in the best shape possible. All of this to make sure you are in the best shape possible to go on court ans taste victory.

This is something Medvedev has struggled to achieve at the highest level in recent times. Since his 2021 US Open triumph, he has lost three Grand Slam finals, taking his total up to five. Two of these came in the Australian Open, where he was two sets to the good against Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner before being pegged back and ended up going home empty handed.

His last Masters 1000 title came back in 2023 in Rome, with just one final following at the start of 2024 in Indian Wells. Similar to this year, his best result had come at that event, where he was defeated in the semi-finals by Holger Rune. He had the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the absent top players at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, but exited in the opening rounds.

Since that title in Rome, he has slumped to six consecutive finals defeats, the most recent coming at Halle against Alexander Bublik. This lack in form has seen him drop from the former world number one back in 2022 to plummet to the number 14 in the world. Despite this, his favourite surface is hardcourt, consistently achieving good results on the surface, including four Grand Slam finals.

He will be hoping to add another with the US Open coming swiftly up, but first, he will partake in the all-new mixed doubles event, as he teames up with fellow Russian Mirra Andreeva in the hopes for glory.