In the semi-final with Sinner in Miami
The next comparison between Jannik Sinner and Russian Daniil Medvedev It’s not as good as the Australian Open final won by the Italian in January, but it will always be of the highest level. It is in fact the semi-final of the Masters 1000 in Miami. The match will be played on Friday 29 March. Sinner starts as the favorite this time, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Defeated by Sinner in the 2024 Australian Open final
Daniil Medvedev, former n. 1 in the world, as mentioned, will seek revenge in Miami for the final lost to Sinner in Melbourne in January. For the Russian it was the sixth Slam final after the US Open 2019, 2021 (won), 2023 and the Australian Open 2021 and 2022. Medvedev, born in Moscow on 11 February 1997, has already won 20 titles in his career. A curiosity: Sinner’s rise seems to coincide with the decline of Medvedev, who has now fallen to No. 4 in the world.
A (former) Number One for peace
In fact, on March 1, 2022, Medvedev became the new number one in world tennis and his first thoughts were dedicated to children all over the planet. «I want to ask for peace in the world, because children have the right to dream». The dream of climbing the ATP rankings to the top, however, was realized by Daniil after 86 consecutive weeks (361 in total) in which the master had always and only been Novak Djokovic (who then, naturally, also returned).
The Ukrainian request: out of the Slams
However, Medvedev’s message did not seem to be enough. The president of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, Seva Kewlysh, immediately after the invasion of Ukraine by the Moscow army, had asked the International Tennis Federation to exclude the Russian tennis player from the Grand Slam tournaments: «We will let Medvedev play the ATP Tour tournaments (without flag, ed), but Grand Slams are ITF tournaments. And if you can’t play them, you will never be number one (… ) Medvedev should not play at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.” Certainly, the former number one will not play the Davis Cup for an undetermined period: Russia, like Belarus, was excluded from the competition by the ITF.
The third Russian
Medvedev was the 27th number 1 in history and, above all, the first not to be called Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray for almost 18 years. The last “extra big-four” to ascend the ATP throne was Andy Roddick, on February 1, 2004. He is also the third Russian in history to become number one after Kafelnikov in 1999 and Safin in 2000.
The overtaking on Djokovic
The signs of overtaking him at the top of the rankings had already been there the previous year at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic was looking for the 21st Slam (a goal later achieved at Medvedev’s expense by Nadal in Melbourne) and above all the Grand Slam after winning in Australia, at Roland Garros and at Wimbledon. Medvedev, however, played a trick on him.
The turning point in 2019 (and goodbye croissants)
The new Russian generation was made up of three tennis players, more than others: Rublev and Khachanov, however, were considered more talented. Medvedev, on the other hand, was said to have a difficult character and habits that were not that of a top-level athlete. Little culture of rest (“I thought the best was to lie down in bed and watch a bit of TV,” he said), a few croissants too many. Then the switch of 2019, the year in which everything changed, after the first three ATP titles had arrived in 2018: the first Slam final in New York (lost against Rafa Nadal after 12 consecutive successes).
The argument with the coach
In February 2021 Djokovic defeated Medvedev in the final of the Australian Open, a tournament in which the silent argument between the Russian and his coach Gilles Cervara went viral. At a certain point, during the match against the Serbian Krajinovic, Cervara (who has been following the Russian since 2017) got up and left. Medvedev, without him, dominated the fifth set and won the match, everything calculated: «Gilles knew just before leaving that I would win the match, so he left to leave me calmer». The two met in 2015, after Medvedev moved as a teenager to Cannes, where his sister lived: after an occasional collaboration, they have been traveling around the world since 2017.
The Melbourne outburst
He is not the idol of the crowds, Medvedev. Early in his career he argued with a chair umpire to the point of throwing some coins at her. At the US Open he responded to the public with the middle finger and, in the last ATP Finals in Turin, he yawned in Jannik Sinner’s face. It then happens that the fans root for the opponent, and it also happened in the Melbourne final against Nadal (who however asked the fans to stop).
Medvedev lost it and, in a press conference, he vented: «From now on I will play for myself, for my family, for the people who trust me and obviously for all Russians, because I always feel the their support. If there is a hard court tournament in Moscow, before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I will go even if I have to give up Wimbledon, Roland Garros or something else. The child stopped dreaming. The child will play for himself.”
Daria and Bayern
Medvedev, a football enthusiast and Bayern Munich fan, is married to Daria, whom he met in 2014 and married four years later: she would have wanted to be a professional tennis player too, but a series of injuries hindered her. Medvedev dedicated his US Open victory to Daria: «she helped me to be a better person and player».
Video games
And who knows if in their private life she will ever have tried to distract him during a video game session: «Basically I don’t take them to tournaments because I know that otherwise I wouldn’t have all these results – she revealed some time ago -. But when I’m at home, I better not take my PlayStation. It wouldn’t end well.”
