"Hopefully I can play Wimbledon this year" – Russian Daniil Medvedev hopes for inclusion in 2023 after being banned due to nationality in 2022

Daniil Medvedev recently expressed his desire to compete at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

The Russian and scores of compatriots and Belarusians, including Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova, Victoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka were made to sit out the 2022 edition of Wimbledon, bearing the brunt of their nationality.

The harsh decision from the LTA and the tournament came in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has been supported by Belarus. The stance, however, received a mixed reaction, with the ATP and the WTA objecting to the unfair ruling. In retaliation, the two tennis governing bodies stripped Wimbledon off its ranking points.

Daniil Medvedev, who faced the unfortunate consequence during his reign as the World No. 1, expressed hope for inclusion this time around, noting his desire to make a deep run at Wimbledon in 2023.

“I want to play on grass, I want to play Wimbledon,” Daniil Medvedev said during a recent interview, per Eurosport. “I don’t know what their decision is going to be. I’m just going to wait for it and hopefully, I can play Wimbledon this year and show some great results.”

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"Novak Djokovic is amazing winning so many grass court tournaments" – Daniil Medvedev compares Wimbledon specialist's grass court prowess to his own

Dubai Duty Free Tennis - Day Thirteen

While Daniil Medvedev has voiced his intention to contest Wimbledon in 2023, the Russian hasn’t found nearly as much success on grass courts as he has on hard courts. While he has reached the finals of the Australian Open and the US Open twice each, Medvedev’s best result at Wimbledon has been reaching the fourth round (2021).

In fact, 17 of the former World No. 1’s 18 career titles so far have come on the hard courts, with the remaining one being on the grass courts of Mallorca in 2021.

In 2022, Daniil Medvedev reached two back-to-back grass finals in 's-Hertogenbosch and Halle, but fell short in the final clash.

Speaking about his struggles with the grass courts, the Russian declared that hard courts were easier to contest, and acknowledged Novak Djokovic as superior for his simultaneous prowess on either surface.

“I like grass but it’s a very tough surface, it’s a little bit tougher than hard courts, and that’s where I think Novak is amazing winning so many grass-court tournaments,” he remarked in the same interview.

“Because you can really just get a guy who is going to serve good this day and you have to win the tie-breaks. And Novak managed to win so many times 6-4 6-4 6-4, I actually don’t know how he does it,” he added.

Despite his grass court woes, the 2021 US Open champion is riding high on his hard court success, having won back-to-back trophies in Rotterdam and Qatar in 2023.

At the on-going Dubai Tennis Championships, the Russian is through to the final with a semifinal victory over Djokovic. He will vie for a hat-trick of titles in 2023 as he faces compatriot Andrey Rublev in the final on Saturday (March 4).