Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ranked as the singles world No. 1 for 16 total weeks. Medvedev has won 15 ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2021 US Open and 2020 ATP Finals. In the former, Medvedev defeated then-world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final to deny him the Grand Slam. In the latter, he became the first and only player to defeat the top three ranked players in the world en route to the year-end championship title. He has also won four Masters 1000 titles and contested four major finals.Medvedev made his ATP Tour main draw debut at the singles event of the 2015 Kremlin Cup.In 2017, he participated in a major for the first time at Wimbledon, where he defeated world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. In 2018, Medvedev won his first ATP Tour singles titles at Sydney and Winston-Salem, and his first ATP 500 title in Tokyo. He achieved a breakthrough in 2019, making his top 10 debut after Wimbledon and reaching six consecutive tournament finals, including at the US Open. In February 2022, Medvedev became the first man outside of the Big Four to hold the world No. 1 ranking since Andy Roddick in February 2004, the third Russian man following Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1999 and Marat Safin in 2000, and the 27th man overall.

Early and personal life

Medvedev was born in Moscow to Sergey Medvedev and Olga Medvedeva. Daniil's father, a computer engineer, developed his own business of building materials sales, from the mid-1980s to the early 2010s. Medvedev has two older sisters named Julia and Elena, 12 and 8 years his senior, respectively. When he was 6 years old, his mother noticed an advertisement for group tennis lessons at the pool where he was taking swimming lessons. His father encouraged him to enroll. Medvedev's first tennis teacher was Ekaterina Kryuchkova, a former coach of professional tennis player Vera Zvonareva among others. Daniil's other childhood activities besides sport included harpsichord and guitar lessons.

Medvedev studied physics and math at a specialized school before graduating early and enrolling in economics and commerce at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He later dropped out to focus on tennis. He then switched to the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth, and Tourism, where he received his diploma as coach. With his family he moved to Antibes, France where he trained at the tennis academy. His parents have been living in France since then, as retirees. As a result of living mostly overseas after turning 18, Medvedev can speak French and English fluently, besides his native Russian.

Medvedev married his girlfriend Daria Chernyshkova, a Moscow State University graduate and former juniors tennis player, in Moscow on 12 September 2018. On October 14, 2022, he announced with his wife, Daria, the birth of their daughter.
In September 2019, he credited his marriage for the improvement of his tennis results: "Before I made a proposal, I had been on the 65th place in the ranking, and then in ten months I've won two major tournaments and entered the top 10. We have significantly rebuilt our life, we work for each other. I earn oney and Dasha helps me to earn more". Daria also works as his assistant, e.g., she helps to procure travel visas which is not easy with a Russian passport. When he won the US Open on 12 September 2021, his first Grand Slam singles title, Medvedev joked, referring to the final being on the same day as his wedding anniversary, "If I lose, I have no time to find a present. So I have to win this match."

Medvedev has been listed as an "unsuitable" subject to compulsory military service in the Russian Armed Forces because of his minor health issues due to the preterm birth at 8 months. Like many other Russian tennis players, Medvedev considered switching to the flag of Kazakhstan in the beginning of his professional career for a lack of support from the Russian Tennis Federation. Sports psychologist Francisca Dauzet has been a part of his French-speaking entourage since 2018. He is a supporter of FC Bayern Munich.

Junior career

Medvedev played his first junior match in July 2009 at the age of 13 at a grade 4 tournament in Estonia. In December 2010, he won his first junior title as a qualifier at just his third tournament.

2012–2013 would see Medvedev surge on the junior circuit as he won six titles between October 2012 and July 2013 which included four consecutive titles. He made his junior Grand Slam debut at 2013 Junior Wimbledon where he won his first round match against Hong Seong-chan but lost in the second round to 2nd seed Nikola Milojević. At the 2013 Junior US Open, he went into the tournament seeded 10th and made the third round where he lost to Johan Tatlot.

Medvedev reached his career-high junior ranking of world No. 13 at the beginning of 2014 and went into the 2014 Junior Australian Open seeded 8th. He ended his junior career after a first round loss at 2014 Junior Wimbledon.

Medvedev ended his junior career with an overall win–loss record of 109–43 and wins over several future stars including Alexander Zverev and Reilly Opelka.

Junior Grand Slam results – singles:

Australian Open: 3R (2014)

French Open: 3R (2014)

Wimbledon: 2R (2013)

US Open: 3R (2013)

Career

2015–2016: Early pro career

Medvedev made his ATP main draw debut at the 2015 Kremlin Cup, partnering Aslan Karatsev in the doubles event. The two defeated Aliaksandr Bury and Denis Istomin in the first round but were defeated by Radu Albot and František Čermák in the second round.

As a qualifier, Medvedev made his ATP singles main draw debut at the 2016 Nice Open, losing to Guido Pella in three sets. Three weeks later he earned his first singles ATP World Tour win at the 2016 Ricoh Open, defeating Horacio Zeballos in straight sets.

Medvedev was disqualified from the second round of the Savannah Challenger event (in Georgia, U.S.) for comments he made after the umpire ruled in favor of his opponent. Medvedev thought he had won a break point against his opponent Donald Young's serve, but chair umpire Sandy French ruled that his returning shot had gone out. After that, Medvedev said Young and French were friends. As both parties are black, he was disqualified mid-match for allegedly 'question ngthe impartiality of the umpire based on her race'.

2017: First ATP final

In January 2017, Medvedev reached his first ATP singles final. In the final at the Chennai Open he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in two sets. As a result, Medvedev jumped 34 positions from 99 to 65 in the ATP rankings, a new career-high. In February, he advanced to the quarterfinals of both the Open Sud de France and the Open 13, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille respectively.

In June, he made it to the quarterfinals of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, defeating the 6th seed, Robin Haase, and Thanasi Kokkinakis before losing to Ivo Karlović in straight sets. At the Aegon Championships, he advanced to his first ATP 500 quarterfinal by beating Nicolas Mahut and Kokkinakis in the first two rounds, before losing to the No. 6 seed, Grigor Dimitrov, in the quarterfinals. One week later, he on grass advanced to the semifinal of Eastbourne International, losing to Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev registered his maiden Grand Slam match win at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, defeating fifth seed and world No. 3, Stan Wawrinka, in the first round in four sets. He lost in the next round to Ruben Bemelmans. Medvedev was handed three fines totaling $14,500 (£11,200) for his conduct during the match with Bemelmans: $7,000 for insulting the umpire on two occasions and $7,500 for throwing coins under the umpire's chair.

2018: First ATP titles

Medvedev started the 2018 season by qualifying for the Sydney International. He reached the final which he won against Australian Alex de Minaur. The final was the youngest ATP Tour tournament final since 2007, when a 20-year-old Rafael Nadal defeated a 19-year-old Novak Djokovic in the final of Indian Wells. It also was the tournament's youngest final since 1989.

In August, Medvedev won his second ATP title at the 2018 Winston-Salem Open after defeating Steve Johnson in straight sets. In October, Medvedev won his first ATP 500 and third career ATP title in Tokyo as a qualifier, overcoming Japanese star and No. 3 seeded, Kei Nishikori, in straight sets in the final. This triumph brought him to a new career high ranking of No. 22 and made him the No. 1 player in Russia. The victory also marked the third consecutive final that Medvedev had beaten the home favorite in to win the title. Medvedev reached the Kremlin Cup semifinal, losing to his countryman and eventual champion Karen Khachanov. One week later, he made the semifinals at the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors event, which he lost to Roger Federer. After the tournament, he achieved a new career high ranking of world No. 16.

Medvedev finished 2018 with the most hard court match wins of any player on the ATP Tour (38 wins). He also had the most titles on hard court tournaments (3 titles), tying with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Karen Khachanov.

2019: Two Masters titles, US Open final

Medvedev started the season strongly by reaching the final of the Brisbane International, defeating Andy Murray, Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route, but then lost to Kei Nishikori. At the Australian Open, he was seeded 15th, the first time he was seeded at a major. He reached the round of 16 for the first time in his career, where he was defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic. In February, Medvedev won his fourth ATP title at the Sofia Open, beating Márton Fucsovics in the final. The following week, Medvedev lost in the semifinals of Rotterdam to Gaël Monfils. Medvedev entered the Monte Carlo Masters having only won two of his 13 career matches on clay courts. Despite this, he reached his first ever Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the event after defeating world No. 8 Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the quarterfinals, Medvedev earned his first triumph over a world number 1 ranked player, when he defeated Djokovic in three sets. His run ended in the semifinals against Dušan Lajović. At the Barcelona Open