Annual report Daniil Medvedev: Bad karma since Melbourne - just satisfactory
Daniil Medvedev ended 2022 as number seven in the ATP world rankings, winning only two titles in total. That cannot meet the demands of the Russian.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Dec 02, 2022, 06:29 pm
If there were a ranking for the most entertaining press conferences on the ATP tour, Daniil Medvedev would regularly be in the top three. The Russian's answers are always detailed and full of content, and the 26-year-old can express himself very fluently not only in English and his mother tongue, but also in French. Now most press conferences after the Australian Open 2022 did not do without the question - in different variations - how the season turned out, Medvedev would have rewarded himself in the final of the first major of the year.
As a reminder: Medvedev had won a 2-0 set lead against Rafael Nadal (not unlucky), and in round three with three breakballs en suite, he was just before the decisive blow to the neck. Rafa had other intentions, bravely pulled his head out of the noose and celebrated his 21st Grand Slam title. Medvedev, who arrived as the reigning US Open champion, was denied number two. All in all, it was not to be a good year.
There were still a few positives:
- For the first time in his career, Daniil Medvedev made it to number one in the world rankings. This was due to several non-sporting reasons, but no matter: number one is number one.
- Two tournament wins were also added, Medvedev now has 15. He won in Los Cabos as well as in the Wiener Stadthalle. Above all, the triumph at the Erste Bank Open showed what Daniil Medvedev is still capable of.
- And: in the early fall, Medvedev became a father for the first time, his wife Daria gave birth to a healthy girl. Sport becomes a minor matter.
But:
- The performances at the other two Grand Slam tournaments in which Medvedev was allowed to take part were not so great: in Roland Garros he let Marin Cilic shoot him off the field with practically no resistance. And in New York, Medvedev went into the showdown with Nick Kyrgios without much confidence and promptly lost in the round of 16.
- The performances at the ATP Finals in Turin are also puzzling: Medvedev lost all three matches in the tie-break of the third set. Including those against his actual favorite opponents Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Medvedev served to win against Novak Djokovic, but then had to admit defeat.
But the match against Djokovic showed that Daniil Medvedev is still able to play at eye level with the very best. And in contrast to competitors like Tsitsipas, Rublev, Alexander Zverev or Casper Ruud, Medvedev goes onto the court with the good feeling that he already has a major title in his pocket.
For the year 2022, however, there is only a grade of three, i.e. satisfactory. Just.