Daniil Medvedev optimistic about French Open as he fights his way back from surgery

Russian world No 2 will be playing in Geneva this week to tune up for Grand Slam in Paris

Daniil Medvedev during a training session at the ATP 250 Geneva Open in Switzerland. EPA

World No 2 Daniil Medvedev is looking to get back into the groove in Geneva as he returns from a hernia operation and gets ready for next week's French Open.

The Russian underwent surgery last month after losing in the quarter-finals in Miami, and thus missed the early clay-court season.

The US Open champion said playing in this week's 28-man, best-of-three-sets tournament in Geneva should help him sharpen his skills for Paris.

"It's never been easy for me on a clay court to start good straight away. So even one tournament is going to be good to prepare," Medvedev, 26, said.

"I'm feeling good physically, I'm feeling ready. From what I can see, the conditions [in Geneva] are very similar to Roland-Garros, where the balls fly around and the clay is fairly hard.

"The most important thing for me is to play at least one match – of course I'm hoping to play more – in order to be ready to play five-set matches, if I have to.

"Even one, two or three matches here could help me be more ready to play at Roland-Garros."

Top seed Medvedev has a bye into the round of 16 and will face either France's Richard Gasquet or John Millman of Australia on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Gael Monfils said he will not compete at the French Open as he goes under the knife to fix a problem with his right heel, the Frenchman said on Monday.

The 22nd-ranked Monfils started the year well, winning his 11th ATP tour title in a tune-up event in Adelaide before reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, where he was beaten by Matteo Berrettini.

He has struggled in recent months, however, failing to go past the round of 16 in ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.

"Hi all, I regret to inform you that I am forced to withdraw from Open Parc de Lyon and the French Open next week," Monfils, the highest-ranked French player, wrote on Twitter.

"I have been bothered by a calcaneal spur since Monte-Carlo at my right heel which prevents me from moving properly on court. I have decided to undergo a small procedure this week to treat the issue before returning to competitive play."

Also, Britain's former junior Wimbledon champion and Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist Laura Robson announced her retirement due to persistent injury problems.

The former world No 27 lifted the junior crown at the grass-court Grand Slam as a 14-year-old in 2008 and followed up her success with an Olympic medal partnering Andy Murray at London 2012.

The 28-year-old, who made the fourth round at the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon the following year, had a wrist operation in 2014 before three hip surgeries derailed her career.

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