Heirs to the throne, Part IX: Daniil Medvedev

He made a big step up in 2018

Having been ranked outside the top 300 at the end of 2015 when he was 18, Medvedev will go into 2019 as the world No 16, comfortably seeded at the grand slams and right up there among the top young players on the Tour.

Having finished runner-up in the Next Gen Finals last year, he qualified for the Sydney ATP event and went on to win his first ATP Tour title. He picked up another in Winston-Salem just before the US Open and then claimed a third in Tokyo in the autumn.

Appearances can be deceptive

In the recent New York Times’ list of top shots in men’s tennis, Medvedev was named just once, an honourable mention in the category of best two-handed backhand in the game. Considering he is a new kid on the block, though, and he was competing in a list that included the likes of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, that’s impressive.

His forehand, on the other hand, was in the hunt for “most unusual shot” but though the technique may be on the funky side, it is remarkably effective. With a strong serve, good movement and big heart, he’s a tough competitor. “I have an all-around game,” he said. “I don’t have some weak spots that you can attack and you can definitely beat me.”

No relation to Andrei

Roland Garros followers may well wonder whether Daniil is related to Andrei Medvedev, who famously led the 1999 French Open final only to be overhauled by Andre Agassi.

The answer is no – there is no relation – and Daniil has really done things off his own bat, working his way up through the Tour.

His parents, Sergey and Olga, had no tennis background but worked to help him achieve his dream, with the family eventually moving to France where his sister was training. 

He’s working on his temperament

It’s fair to say that Medvedev has matured since his younger days, when he fell foul of officials on more than one occasion, notably at Wimbledon in 2017 when he threw coins toward an umpire, for which he was later fined.

But since then, he has learned to control his temper and focus his energy on the court. It has worked. As he told Russian website GoTennis.Ru: “I worked with a psychologist to correct this deficiency.”

He has a secret vice (of sorts)

Some tennis players like to play other sports in their spare time, others like to read and travel, others like to play computer games.

Medvedev doesn’t just play computer games, though, he loves them. “My biggest hobby, it's something I don't exactly care to admit… it's PlayStation,” he told the ATP. I spend all my free time on it, so it's my biggest hobby.” His favourite game? Fifa.