"With Rafa we finished after midnight, the wake up was pretty tough, I was feeling a bit rusty" - Daniil Medvedev relives epic ATP Tour Finals 2020 triumph beating all Top-3 seeds including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

Daniil Medvedev relived his memorable campaign at the 2020 ATP Finals, which ended with him winning his maiden title at the prestigious year-end championships. Medvedev not only won the tournament featuring the top 8 players in the world but did so by beating each of the top 3 seeds of the 2020 edition, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Medvedev entered the 2020 edition on the back of a forgettable ATP Finals debut in 2019, where he lost all three matches in his group. While it was a poor campaign, Medvedev explained how he took the positives out of it ahead of the 2020 ATP Finals. The Russian player recently went down memory lane and reminisced about his victorious ATP Finals campaign, during an interview with ATP.

"The thing about tennis is that when you win something, you can lose the next week and forget about your win. The thing about coming in 2020 to the ATP Finals was that I couldn't do worse than in 2019," Daniil Medvedev said of his mindset ahead of the tournament.

After doing the hard yards by defeating Djokovic in the group stage and Nadal in the semifinals, Medvedev suggested that he felt far from ready before facing another high-quality opponent third-seeded Dominic Thiem in the final. However, he was aware of what was at stake in the big final.

"I think with Rafa we finished, if it wasn't after midnight, it was definitely really close to being midnight. So the wake-up was pretty tough for the final. I was feeling a bit rusty, my body was not feeling well after a tough match. But I knew that it was the final of the ATP Finals so I need to be at my best," Medvedev expressed.

Medvedev began his 2020 ATP Finals campaign against Alexander Zverev, a match that he believed was more crucial than it seemed because Djokovic was part of the same group.

He managed to beat Zverev in straight sets and went into the match against Djokovic high on confidence. Medvedev was at his best from the word 'go' against top seed Djokovic, and while he admitted that the Serb was not at his absolute best on the day, his own game was flawless as he won in straight sets.

"To be honest, it wasn't the best match of Novak's career but that's what happens many times. I was at the top of my game at this time, didn't miss much, and didn't give many opportunities to my opponents. It was enough that day to beat Novak in two sets," continued Medvedev.

He then maintained his unbeaten run with another straight-sets win against Diego Schwartzman in the last match of the group stage.

"After the match, I was like yeah that's revenge" - Daniil Medvedev on beating Rafael Nadal in the ATP Finals 2020 semifinals

Daniil Medvedev at the 2020 Nitto ATP World Tour Finals - Day Seven.

Revenge was on Daniil Medvedev's mind when he took on second seed Nadal in the semifinals, having lost a three-set thriller to the Spaniard in the 2019 ATP Finals. The two players produced another thriller and Medvedev avenged his 2019 defeat with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 win.

"After the match, I was like yeah that's revenge, if you can say like this, because it's the same court and exactly the same tournament and now I managed to win," the 26-year-old added.

After working through the fatigue and rustiness ahead of the final that he previously mentioned, Medvedev produced one of his best-ever performances to score a comeback 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Thiem in the final.

"The match was one of the most remarkable matches of my career," he said regarding the final.

Beating the Top 3 seeds and two other Top-8 players in the same tournament gave Daniil Medvedev great confidence going forward. He ended up winning his first Grand Slam title the following season at the 2021 US Open.

"Winning titles like the ATP Finals against the best players in the world and I actually managed to beat the top 3 seeds there. It's amazing for the confidence and that's where I'm like, I'm able to do it, means anything else I can do," concluded Daniil Medvedev.