Daniil Medvedev wants to "become No. 1 & win 25 Slams", but says hard work and self-improvement are more important at present

Daniil Medvedev recently spoke to the press about the prospect of becoming the new World No. 1. The Russian can leapfrog Novak Djokovic into top spot by winning the Australian Open this month.

When asked about the possibility of usurping Djokovic, Medvedev was grounded in his response. The Russian said that while he had lofty ambitions like becoming World No. 1 and winning 25 Slams, it was important for him to prioritize hard work and self-improvement.

Medvedev also alluded to his campaign at the ATP Cup. He claimed that even though he wasn't able to guide Russia to the title, the experience of winning tough matches for his team was very valuable to him.

"Well, you know, I think the higher you climb the rankings, the further you want to go. I have been No. 2 for quite a long time," Medvedev said in a press conference after beating Nick Kyrgios. "I have been playing pretty well. Of course, yeah, I want to, you know, become No. 1, win 25 Slams, or something like this."

"But again, for me the most important is hard work on myself, trying to improve my game, to be a better player, so try to win every tournament I play. Like I played ATP Cup, managed to come back from a tough loss, win three matches, were really close to making something big for Russia, but we didn't manage to do it."

Medvedev conceded that although he was focusing only on his campaign at the Australian Open, he could understand why the possibility of him replacing Djokovic as the No. 1 was the talk of the town.

"Came here to Australian Open, prepared well. Want to win as many matches as possible. It's tough, Grand Slams are tough, there are going to be tough opponents," he said.

"Sometimes you lose early, sometimes you lose late, sometimes you win it. I just want to, you know, try to, yeah, try to play really good. If I manage to do big results, I can become No. 1, especially of course with Novak losing his points here. I mean, we cannot not talk about this."

The Russian did, however, declare that him potentially becoming No. 1 shouldn't be asterisked just because Djokovic wasn't allowed to defend his points due to rather remarkable circumstances.

"But that's life, you know. Sometimes somebody's injured, sometimes somebody lose. Well, he didn't manage to play here. That was a big story, but the result is this, and if I manage to become No. 1, even with these circumstances, I think I should still have some credits," the Russian said.

The 2021 US Open champion has accumulated a truckload of points over the last 52 weeks, and is now only 2,135 points behind World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

"Maybe after the tournament, I'm going to be like, 'wow, that's a great atmosphere for a tennis match'" - Daniil Medvedev on Rod Laver Arena crowd

During the press conference, Medvedev also gave his thoughts on the crowd's behavior during his second-round match against Nick Kyrgios on Thursday. The boisterous crowd often called out during points and in between Medvedev's first and second serves.

The Russian said that while he was not impressed by the Rod Laver Arena crowd's antics at the time, he would probably enjoy their energy if he saw the match on TV later.

"It's not good for the game I think to do it, because probably people don't know, but when you're getting ready for the second serve, well, it's a tough moment. I think, yeah, people should respect both players and just, you know, don't talk in these moments."

"If not during the match, again, you know, it's not easy to be there when the whole stadium is against you, but probably if you look at, if I will look it on the TV," Medvedev added. "I'm probably not going to do it tonight but maybe after the tournament, I'm going to be, like, Wow, that's a great atmosphere for a tennis match."

The Russian at the time felt the crowd were booing him when they were in fact chanting "siuuu" in homage to Cristiano Ronaldo, who popularized the gesture.

Medvedev revealed that he did not know what it meant since he had never watched Ronaldo play live. But he admitted that after learning of its meaning from Jim Courier during the post-match interview, he found it to be rather funny.

I have never been to a match with Cristiano so I don't know if they are trying to do like what Cristiano is doing after the match or if people on the stadium do it. Because when you watch on TV there are commentators, so I cannot really hear it," he said.

"So it can be funny to know. I actually wrote "siuu" in the camera afterwards because when Jim on the court started talking about this, I was like, Well, okay, I'm going to write it then because everybody is doing it. So I guess that's the thing to do."