TENNIS - SERIOUS MEDVEDEV IS HAVING FUN AGAIN .
Richard Finn
NEW YORK 1996-08-28
Outspoken Andrei Medvedev exchanged his reputation as the clown prince of tennis on Wednesday for a new no-nonsense attitude that has made life on the courts fun again .
" I think I 'm much more focused on what I have to do , and that 's playing tennis , " Medvedev said after routing Frenchman Jean-Philippe Fleurian 6-2 6-0 6-1 in the opening round of the U.S. Open .
It was Medvedev 's sixth victory in a row after winning his first tournament of the year last week at the Hamlet Cup .
" I realised this year , that without putting 99.9 percent of your mind into tennis , I do n't think you can successful , " said the 22-year-old Medvedev .
" The whole day I 'm thinking abnout tennis .
I felt that all the other things I was doing the years before , they were distracting me , they were not helping me at all . "
For Medvedev that meant confining his post-match comments to tennis and not going off on tirades about about peripheral issues such as the poor quality of food in the players lounge , an entertaining rant that took his mind off the task at hand .
" I know what I 'm here for , " said Medvedev , who lost in the second round of the Open the last two years after reaching the quarters in 1993 , the same year he tried his hand as a restaurant critic .
" I 'm not here to fight the press or talk about the food or entertain the people off the court .
I 'm here to play tennis and to win .
I have much less fun off the court .
I have much more fun on the court , " he said .
Just three years ago Medvedev was one of the world 's best , with a ranking of six after reaching the French Open semifinal and winning three tournaments .
But Medvedev 's ranking slowly began to drop last year as he struggled with a wrist injury .
The Ukrainian finally hit a low of 44th two months ago .
" It 's somewhere where I would n't like to stay very long , " Medvedev said of his current ranking of 36 . "
It 's a part of the penalty that I have to accept . "
As part of his new businesslike approach , Medvedev hired Australian coach Bob Brett at the start of this year and the partnership is beginning to pay off .
" At the beginning of the year we started from zero , " said Medvedev . "
Winning in Long Island ( last week ) was like winning for the first time . "
While Medvedev 's 77-minute romp past Fleurian was rather ordinary , the fact that the two were playing each other was rather remarkable .
In the original draw , Medvedev and Fleurian were slotted to play each other .
When controversy forced the draw to be done over -- against odds of 151-to-1 -- Medvedev and Fleurian drew each other a second time .
" When I saw the new draw I did n't have to change my preparation , " Medvedev said . "
I think it 's destined that it turned out for me . "