'Hardcourt specialist' Daniil Medvedev dazzles fans on the French Open clay

Daniil Medvedev is once again at work at the 2024 French Open. The self-proclaimed hard court specialist is delightful no matter what surface he plays on, but the European clay is his most challenging.

The good news is that Medvedev has advanced to the second round of this year's tournament and will face Miomir Kecmanovic on Wednesday.

However, Medvedev is already attracting notice by tennis fans worldwide for two reasons and one is all-too-familiar.

Daniil Medvedev's match schedule and kit are getting noticed

Late nights, in any time zone, seem to be the norm for Medvedev. He defeated Dominik Koepfer in the first round after midnight. Former tennis player and current commentator Rennae Stubbs commended Medvedev for getting the late-night/early-morning win and wondered aloud why he is forced to perform midnight "Meddy Magic" time after time at Grand Slams. Medvedev also joked that finishing a Grand Slam match before midnight means "there's a problem."

At the 2024 Australian Open, Medvedev's schedule drew ire from fans when he finished his match (with a win) at 3:40 AM local time.

Medvedev takes all of it in stride with his charismatic and sarcastic nature; whereas, other players would likely be complaining about it. Maybe he is too nice about it, and that's why the tennis gods continue to bestow such ridiculous schedules on him.

At Roland Garros, Medvedev is also drawing attention for his Lacoste kit. He had the full look on for his night match which caused many to hope that he goes far at the French Open because it is one of his best kits with Lacoste.

As previously mentioned, the French Open is not where Medvedev plays his best tennis. He lost in the second round each year from 2017 to 2020 before making a surprise quarterfinal run in 2021 and a run into the fourth round in 2022. Fans hoped Medvedev's love-hate relationship with clay was tilting toward love, but Medvedev's second-round loss last year made people think otherwise.

It would be an unlikely result, but crowning Daniil Medvedev the 2024 French Open would be amazing for the sport and would force him to remove his "hard-court specialist" moniker.

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