The Russian at the end of the winter of last year for the first time in his career became the best rated tennis player in the world, and in the summer he once again showed off in the position of the first racket of the world. However, then Medvedev experienced a protracted decline. At the beginning of 2023, Daniil flew out in the third round of the Australian Open.

It seemed that it would not be easy for the Russian to get out of this hole, but in February our guy simply destroys his rivals and won the second champion title in two weeks.

Difficult road to the end

Last week Daniil was the best at the ATP-500 tournament in Rotterdam. In the decisive match in the final, Medvedev gave a real show in the confrontation with the Italian Yannick Sinner (the 14th number in the world ranking at that time), was able to turn the tide of the fight and won a beautiful victory with a score of 5:7, 6:2, 6:2. Following the Russian, it was necessary to move from the cold Netherlands, where the matches were held in the hall, to the incredibly hot Qatar. He admitted more than once that it was not easy for him to adapt to temperatures above +30 after Europe.

In the first match, he dealt with Liam Brody rather confidently, but in the quarterfinals he faced Australian Christopher O’Connell, who had previously beaten tennis stars like Fernando Verdasco and Roberto Bautista-Agut. As a result, Medvedev suffered for almost two hours with the Australian, but still put the squeeze on his opponent. The semi-finals also had a tough time with second seeded Felix Auger-Alyassime. It is noteworthy that they met no more than a week ago in Rotterdam, and then the Russian easily finished with the Canadian. In Doha, I had to tinker with him, but a powerful game in the endings allowed Daniil to reach the final.

At stake was the second title in a row and good prize money. But it was even more important to regain that very psychological confidence that was lost in the second half of last year. On the other side of the net in the final against Medvedev was the legendary Andy Murray. Here’s who can’t be broken. The Briton plays with a titanium hip joint, how can something frighten him? Murray fought four three-set bouts en route to the final, each filled with drama. In the first round, he won back three match points from the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, and in the semi-final five match points from the rising Czech star Jiri Lehechka at once.

Daniil Medvedev / Photo: © REUTERS / Ibraheem Al Omari

Is the real Medvedev back?

The personal history of confrontations spoke in favor of Medvedev, the Russians won both meetings against Murray, and he did it without losing sets. The beginning of the final in Doha also promised him a landslide victory. Daniil led first with a score of 2:0, and then 4:1. Nevertheless, the Briton clung to the character of the first set until the last. With a score of 3:4, Murray had a break point, but he missed it, and then lost the starting set – 4:6.

The second party began according to the same scenario. The Russian took the first two games, but then the British equalized the situation. Everything was decided when the score was 4:4, when Medvedev managed to take the opponent’s serve. And then with great difficulty, but put the squeeze on old Andy already on his serve. The last draw turned out to be insanely long and intense and ended with a beautiful “candle” of the Russian tennis player, who won his 17th title in his career.

– It was very windy here, for a long time I could not find my rhythm. I heard that a lot of people here had problems with their shoulders, elbows and wrists. I was worried about the hand in Australia, and here my shoulder hurt. In any case, I’m glad that we managed to win. Today was a real battle. At times we both played badly, and at other times we didn’t even play very well.

It was hard for Andy to push me through today. At this stage, I feel great and really look forward to continuing this winning streak,” Medvedev said during an interview after the match.

It looks like the real Medvedev is finally back. Daniil has won nine matches in a row and will soon rise to seventh in the ATP rankings. Yes, it is too early to talk about the return of the title of the first racket of the world, but if the Russian continues to dominate like this, then everything will be more than possible.