What's Next for Daniil Medvedev?

Here, we take an in-depth look at the career of Daniil Medvedev. Check it out here.

Daniil Medvedev is on target to have arguably his most outstanding season this year on the ATP Tour. First, however, he needs to ensure that his mind stays focused on the game and that his recent spat with Alexander Zverev doesn’t derail his momentum. This article takes an in-depth look into the life of Daniil Medvedev and relives some of his best tennis moments. We then dust off our crystal ball to predict what the future may hold for the magnificent Russian.

The early years

Sergey and Olga Medvedeva gave birth to Daniil Medvedev in Moscow in 1996. His mother saw a sign for group tennis lessons when he was six years old at the pool where he had swimming lessons. His father supported his decision to take up the sport. Ekaterina Kryuchkova – a former coach of, among others, tennis pro Vera Zvonareva – was Medvedev's first tennis instructor. Before graduating early and enrolling in economics and trade at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Medvedev studied math and physics at a specialist school. Later, he quit so he could concentrate on tennis. He then switched to the Russian State University of Physical Education before his family moved to Antibes, France, where he trained at the tennis academy.

At 13, Medvedev participated in his first junior match at a grade four competition in Estonia in July 2009. He qualified for only his third competition when, in December 2010, he defied the Tennis Odds and took home his maiden junior championship. Medvedev experienced a rise on the junior circuit in 2012–2013, winning six titles, including four straight, between October 2012 and July 2013. In 2014, Medvedev attained the highest junior position in his career, No. 13 in the world. Medvedev concluded his junior career with a final win-loss record of 109-43 and victories over several future stars, including Alexander Zverev and Reilly Opelka. The win over Alexander Zverev was to be the start of a heated battle against the German, which we will later cover.

ATP life

At the 2016 Nice Open, Medvedev competed as a qualifier and made his ATP singles main draw debut before falling to Guido Pella in three sets. Three weeks later, at the 2016 Ricoh Open, he defeated Horacio Zeballos in straight sets for his maiden singles victory on the ATP World Tour. Medvedev made his first ATP singles final in January 2017. Roberto Bautista Agut defeated him in two sets in the Chennai Open championship match. As a result, Medvedev increased his place in the ATP rankings by 34 spots, from 99 to 65, a new career best. Medvedev qualified for the Sydney International to begin the 2018 campaign. In the final, he defeated the Australian Alex de Minaur to lift his maiden trophy.

Fast forward four years and Medvedev entered the 2022 Mexican Open with the chance to unseat Novak Djokovic as the top player in the world. In a rematch of the Australian Open final, Rafael Nadal overcame Medvedev again in the semifinals. But because Djokovic lost in the quarterfinal match in Dubai that was being played simultaneously, Medvedev became the first man to hold the top spot in the world rankings. Thus, Medvedev became the third Russian to retain the top spot after Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1999 and Marat Safin in 2000, and the first man outside of the Big Four to do so since Andy Roddick in February 2004.

The present

Medvedev has started this season amazingly well and is on course to have arguably his best season on tour. However, he started the year off with a crushing 3-0 defeat against Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open, and the signs did not look good for the Russain. But he took a month off and has not looked back since. Despite a stuttering start in his return at Rotterdam, he lifted the trophy, returning from a set down in the final to beat Jannik Sinner. From then on, he has looked unbeatable at times this season.

He moved from Rotterdam to Qatar, where he dropped only one set on his way to becoming the champion in Doha. He continued his dominating reign in Dubai the following week, where he played the perfect week of tennis, winning the title and not dropping a single set. This included beating world number one Novak Djokovic (6-4, 6-4) in the semifinals. However, his 19-match unbeaten run ended in the final at Indian Wells when the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated Medvedev in the final. 

But this defeat did not faze the Russian, who claimed the title in Miami the following week. However, his momentum was recently halted in Monte Carlo when he lost in the quarterfinals to Holger Rune. It was clear that something was amiss with Medvedev, and it appeared that his altercation with his long-running rival Zverev in the previous round was still playing in his mind. As a result, Medvedev pulled out of the following tournament in Barcelona, which was the right thing to do. It will give the Russian time to cool down, recharge his batteries and then focus on the Madrid Masters, a tournament he hasn't had much success at in the past.