Medvedev wants his momentum back for rest of ATP Finals

The 23-year-old had been on a roll, winning the Shanghai Masters in his sixth straight final. Since then, though, he's withdrawn from his home event in Moscow and fell in the second round of the Paris Masters.

He began the ATP Finals with a straight-sets defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas, who he had beaten in their five previous meetings.

"I think just general energy was not the way I wanted. And talking about energy, I'm not talking only about physical," Medvedev told press at London. "So it's something more mentally."

He's now looking to recapture the "momentum" which took him on his winning run. Medvedev pointed to the consistency of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who hold the Top three spots in the rankings.

!Getty Images

"I should say I'm quite confident that at one moment I will get it back. The other question is is it going to be this tournament or the next one," he said. "I should say, I think [it's normal for any sportsman, and that's what is amazing about top 3, big 3 and [Andy] Murray before, that even when you kind of look at them and you think, okay, they are not playing as good as they can, they still win these matches.

"That's what I'm going to try to work on, and still have two matches."

But it's not all mental for Medvedev, who is not used to playing and winning as much as he has been.

"No, there is more problems physically, and actually answering another question, that's why I decided to take a break from Moscow because I knew that my body needs a rest if I don't want to get injured. So that was a decision to make. We cannot play 40 tournaments in a year."

Next up is a meeting against Nadal in round-robin competition at the ATP Finals.