The 2020 tennis year of… Daniil Medvedev
The last two big titles of 2020 went to Daniil Medvedev . Can the Russian build on this in the coming year?
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 24, 2020, 09:36 am
Daniil Medvedev will be the next observation project in 2021 for all those who believe in the curse that weighs on the winner of the ATP Finals. Since Andy Murray's triumph in 2016, the following year has seldom been as good as the one before for the respective unofficial ATP world champion. Particularly noteworthy is the drop in performance of Grigor Dimitrov , who after his victory in 2017 was unable to meet the expectations placed on him.
At Medvedev one will have to wait and see. As in 2019, the Russian developed the really big winning mentality late in the past season. First at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy, where the Russian defeated Alexander Zverev in the final. And then at the last guest appearance in the O2 Arena in London. Medvedev was about to be eliminated in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal , but made a comeback against the world number two. Medvedev then won the final in three sets against Dominic Thiem .
Medvedev at the US Open in the semifinals
The year 2020 began not badly for Medvedev with four victories at the ATP Cup against well-known opponents: Fabio Fognini, John Isner, Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman had to bow to the 24-year-old. In the semifinals it was over against the Serbs and personally against Novak Djokovic . At the Australian Open, the end came in the round of 16 - Stan Wawrinka probably showed his best performance of the year against Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev only won one match in Rotterdam and Marseille, but that against Jannik Sinner . Then came the Corona break - in which Danill Medvedev played very little tennis. The return went well with the quarter-finals in Cincinnati / New York (loss to Roberto Bautista Agut) and the semi-finals at the US Open (loss to Dominic Thiem).
Medvedev then demonstrated in Rome and Roland Garros, where he lost to Ugo Humbert and Marton Fucsovics in the first round, that the ashes only bring good results in exceptional cases.
Loss in Vienna against Anderson
Annoying for the Russians, the defeat in St. Petersburg against Reilly Opelka, in Vienna it was only enough for the quarter-finals, where Medvedev lost to Kevin Anderson. The winning streak of ten matches in a row let him hibernate in fourth place on the ATP charts. With a match record of 28 wins and ten defeats.
Medvedev offered 355 aces in the shortened season, winning 86 percent of his service games. And the rate as a setback is also impressive: after all, Medvedev managed a break in more than a quarter of the return games.