Daniil Medvedev has skilled essentially the most difficult season since 2018, when he turned a high participant. The previous world No. 1 hasn’t performed his greatest tennis for many of the 12 months and has typically appeared near a nervous breakdown on the courtroom.
The Russian champion ended 2024 with out having received a single title, a really unfavourable determine that can immediate him to make a sequence of reflections in the course of the low season. The 2021 US Open champion has already mentioned that he’ll communicate with Gilles Cervara and Gilles Simon within the coming weeks, having understood that he has to alter one thing in his recreation to turn out to be aggressive once more on the highest stage.
The participant from Moscow has achieved some good outcomes in the course of the season, such because the finals on the Australian Open and Indian Wells (or the semifinals on the Wimbledon Championships), however he’s presently a lot inferior to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Daniil Medvedev, ATP Finals 2024© Stream screenshot
The 2 younger leaders of the boys’s tour know Daniil’s recreation and his weaknesses very properly, which is why the Russian has misplaced his certainties and has additionally begun to lose in opposition to second-tier opponents. The repeated defeats in opposition to Jannik and Carlitos have affected his confidence and it’ll not be straightforward to seek out new options to defeat them.
In a press convention in the course of the ATP Finals, Medvedev had admitted that he not enjoys taking part in tennis and complained as soon as once more concerning the balls. The world quantity 5 believes that the present surfaces and the balls utilized by the ATP favor a sure kind of gamers an excessive amount of.
Medvedev should react
After a small break, the Russian will begin working for subsequent season. The previous world #1 will likely be probably the most anticipated gamers on the upcoming Australian Open, a event through which he has all the time performed however the place he has by no means managed to win. Daniil got here near successful in each 2022 and 2024, however was defeated by Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner, respectively, regardless of a two-sets lead. These losses affected the thoughts of Medvedev, who had already misplaced the ultimate in Melbourne in 2021 (in opposition to Nole Djokovic).
In a current interview with Russian media outlet ‘Championnat’, Ivan Pridankin – who was Medvedev’s coach initially of his profession – opened up on Daniil’s present standing: “I don’t think next season will be easier for Daniil. Maybe even more difficult than 2024 season. He has a few problems in the game plan, which I don’t really know how to solve as a coach. How can he compete with Sinner and Alcaraz? And it will be just as difficult to compete with Zverev. And I don’t see how that can be solved at the moment. His team is probably looking for ways to evolve. Staying between 4th to 10th place is the most likely evolution. As for winning a Grand Slam title and moving up to first or second place in the ranking, the question arises.”
Daniil Medvedev© YouTube screenshot
His former coach believes that Medvedev doesn’t have a lot likelihood of reaching the extent of Jannik and Carlitos, who’ve way more energy from baseline and are extra expert close to the web. Daniil had dominated Jannik initially of their rivalry changing into a nightmare for him, earlier than Sinner had his rise and improved his serve loads. Apart from the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships – through which the Italian ace was affected by an sickness – the world #1 has dominated the final clashes with the Russian.
Alcaraz – then again – has by no means suffered in opposition to Medvedev’s recreation which has by no means put him in bother (besides on the 2023 US Open).
Too many complaints
Throughout this season, the world quantity 5 has mentioned a number of occasions that he doesn’t like both surfaces or balls. “I have a bigger problem on tour. You know, some players get advantaged by it; some players disadvantaged. It’s okay. It can happen. But it’s big disadvantage for me” – he said in a current interview.
“As I say, some players will like this ball, so I get it. I’m crying because it disadvantages me. But if you take six balls out of the new balls out of the can, if you look closely and you bounce them, there are going to be six different balls. I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Medvedev concluded.
It’s definitely a really delicate second for the profession of the Russian champion, who should to begin with recuperate his certainties to return to compete on the highest stage. The primary tournaments of 2025 will likely be essential for his future, after a season with many extra shadows than lights.
