It did not take Daniil Medvedev long to realise he was in serious trouble at the French Open. As he tried to find a way past Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the first round, the Russian simply did not feel comfortable striking the ball.
With his prospects of advancing in one of the biggest tournaments in the world dwindling, the 29-year-old settled on a drastic solution. Medvedev requested completely different strings when he sent his rackets to be restrung mid-match, switching from a hybrid of natural gut and polyester strings to a full polyester setup.
