"Now everything is done for another Grand Slam victory": Daniil Medvedev’s coach sets sights on a new major title

Gilles Cervara is entering his 9th season as Daniil Medvedev’s coach, having accompanied the Russian in his rise to the top. The French coach previously worked as a hitting partner for elite players such as former Australian Open runner-up Thomas Enqvist and former World No. 1s Justine Henin and Marat Safin.

Cervara began working full-time with Medvedev in 2017, forging a successful partnership that has seen the Russian claim 20 titles, including six Masters 1000 trophies and his sole Grand Slam victory at the 2021 US Open. Medvedev also reached World No. 1 and contested five Grand Slam finals during this time.

“Our goal is to do everything better” - Gilles Cervara

The 2024 season, however, fell short of Medvedev’s expectations. For the first time since 2017, he ended the year without a title, lagging behind his top rivals. Despite reaching the finals of the Australian Open and Indian Wells, and the semifinals of Wimbledon and the Miami Open, he finished the season ranked World No. 5.

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In an interview with 'Championat', Cervara addressed whether we might see a "new version" of Medvedev next year. “I don’t think the word ‘version’ is right in this sense. We just have to be better. In 2024, he had a clear feeling that Sinner and Alcaraz were better than him.

"This gave him energy and strength for the pre-season. He said: ‘If I want to beat them, if I want to be a Grand Slam champion again, I have to change something, I have to train differently, I have to think differently.’ Our goal is to change, but at the same time do everything better.”

Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner at the 2024 Australian Open final.

Medvedev has faced heartbreak on the biggest stages of tennis. Of his five Grand Slam final losses, two were against Novak Djokovic and two against Rafael Nadal. In the 2022 Australian Open, Medvedev was up two sets and a break against Nadal before the Spaniard staged one of the most epic comebacks of his career, claiming his 21st Grand Slam title and setting a new record at the time.

The most recent Grand Slam final for Medvedev was at the 2024 Australian Open, where he faced Jannik Sinner. Once again, Medvedev led by two sets before the Italian mounted an extraordinary comeback to deny him the trophy.

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“We had an incredible performance at the Australian Open with many tough matches, where Daniil came very close to the title, although he could have lost in the second round. Additionally, Medvedev reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the final of Indian Wells,” Cervara reflected on Medvedev’s 2024 season.

“On the flip side, there were missed opportunities, no titles, and the sense that Daniil was behind Alcaraz, Sinner, and Zverev. Therefore, I can’t call it a good year, even if we were very close to a second Grand Slam title.”

Medvedev will start his 2025 season in mid-January at the Australian Open, opting to skip any warm-up tournaments before the year’s first Grand Slam.

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