French Open 2021: Having COVID-19 was tough for five to six weeks, says Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev said on Monday he struggled from the effects of Covid-19 for “five to six weeks” after testing positive for the virus in April. The Russian second seed reached the French Open second round for the first time in his career after four straight opening-round defeats at Roland Garros, beating Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. The 25-year-old, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, said afterwards that he only recently felt back to 100 percent fitness after recovering from coronavirus. “Coming to Madrid (earlier this month), I was like at maybe 70 percent or 60 percent. I think that’s how Covid affects your body,” said Medvedev. “It’s always tough to say because sometimes during the year you’re going to have these down moments. “So maybe it was just one of them. Yeah, I feel like Covid was tough for maybe five, six weeks since I got it. Now I feel 100 percent.” Medvedev had to withdraw from the Monte Carlo Masters when he tested positive on 13 April and only won one match in his next two tournaments ahead of the French Open. “It’s never easy to talk about this because coming with Covid is also isolation straight away, which meant that 10 days I was at home, basically almost all the time lying on the sofa,” he added. “Even if I tried to do some physical, I was also not feeling that well so I couldn’t do much. And I have a small apartment. “The toughest moment was during the 10 days, I think on the second or third day after I knew that I was positive, that’s where I felt not so good. “But nothing too serious either because I was able to leave. I was not laying down having hallucinations or anything.” Medvedev, whose 10 ATP titles have all come on hard courts, is looking to take advantage of being in the opposite part of the draw from Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. It was only his 12th win on clay out of 180 career matches. “The most important (thing) is the level of tennis I’ve been showing, as I said before the tournament, it was not mind games,” Medvedev said. “My opponent can see I was really feeling good. I managed to play consistent today. I actually played much better in practice still than today, so there is room for improvement.” He will face Tommy Paul of the United States for a place in the third round. Medvedev, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final in February, has no Grand Slam champions in his half of the draw after fourth seed Dominic Thiem’s shock loss to Pablo Andujar on Sunday.