Does Daniil intend to sacrifice ranking points for an uncompromising battle with Nadal?
Russian Daniil Medvedev, after an unsuccessful attempt to compete for victory at the Australian Open, had a chance to get even with his recent offender, Jannik Sinner, in Rotterdam. However, the rematch will have to be postponed indefinitely.
Daniil’s body is simply not ready to defend the title.
“I’m looking forward to returning”
On January 28 in Melbourne, Daniil Medvedev played a difficult five-set match against Italian Jannik Sinner, but was unable to win the Australian Open. The Russian had to be content with a consolation prize and hope that in the near future he would be able to take some other title.
Ahead was a trip to Rotterdam, where the Russian could repay the debt to his recent offender, whom he had already defeated here in 2023.
From February 12 to 18, the Netherlands will host an ATP 500 tournament, the current winner of which is Medvedev. The composition of participants is expected to be decent. In addition to Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Hubert Hurkacz, Alex de Minaur planned to challenge Daniil. The Russian, even in such a stellar company, could count on the first seed, but our tennis player will not be fighting for the title this time, prize money and rating points.
— Unfortunately, I have to refuse to participate in the tournament in Rotterdam. After an incredibly difficult and long tournament in Australia, my body and especially my right leg are not yet recovered enough to play and defend the title. “I enjoy playing in Rotterdam, I have a long history of participation in this tournament, and I am looking forward to returning in 2025,” the press service of the tournament in Rotterdam quotes Medvedev.
You can remember how in the final of the Australian Open our tennis player took a medical time-out, suffering because of a callus. But if this were the only problem, Danya could probably be expected in the Netherlands more than two weeks after the lost final. But since the Russian is not going anywhere, it means that taping alone cannot correct the situation.
But by refusing to defend the title, Medvedev will not only lose the opportunity to compete for the trophy again, but will also be guaranteed to lose 500 points. At the moment, Daniil has 8765 points, and Sinner, who is in fourth place, has 8310. Next Monday, the Russian will not lose anything, but the Italian will lose 240 points. Thus, the gap will increase to 695 points. Sinner will not be able to earn that much in Rotterdam, especially since he still has to defend 300 points for last year’s final. So it’s too early for our player to fear for third place.
When Medvedev will return to duty is still an open question. He also has an ATP 250 tournament in Doha, which starts on February 19. In terms of prestige and prospects for improving the position in the championship race, it is inferior to Rotterdam. The only obvious advantage of the competition in Qatar over the Dutch is that two representatives of the Big Four are planning to play there at once – Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.
Daniil had never had any problems on the court with the Briton before, but he beat the legendary Spaniard only once. Perhaps the desire to better prepare for a possible meeting with the 22-time Grand Slam winner forced Medvedev to make certain sacrifices?
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Austrian tennis player Sebastian Ofner (ATP 131) suffered a disappointing defeat in the second round of the 2026 Australian Open qualifiers.
In the semi-finals of the selection, the Austrian player lost to the US representative in three sets Nisheshu Basavareddy (ATP 239) in 2 hours 32 minutes. Basavareddy took the victory over Ofner in the third set super tiebreaker.
Sebastian was ahead 7:1 in the super tiebreaker and started celebrating his victory after gaining a point. Sebastian started walking towards the goal and the referee told him the match wasn’t over yet.
As a result, Ofner lost 11:13 and missed two match points: one at 10:9 on the return, the other at 11:10 on serve.
Basavareddy will compete against George Loffagen (Great Britain, ATP 211) in the Australian Open qualifying final.
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On January 14, all second round matches in tough tournaments ended WTA 500 in Adelaide And WTA 250 in HobartIt will take place parallel to the Australian Open 2026 qualifying match (Melbourne).
In Adelaide, Dayana Yastremskaya’s felon Katerina Sinyakova lost to Diana Schneider in the second round.
The best moments of tennis matches LIVE on Telegram channel Tennis on Sport.ua
Second-seeded five-hundred Madison Keys knocked out Tereza Valentova, and eighth-seeded Victoria Mboko fought Anna Kalinskaya.
Victoria Mboko [8] – 🏳️ Anna Kalinskaya – 6:2, 3:6, 7:6 (8:6) Teresa Valentova – Madison Keys [2] – 4:6, 1:6
WTA 500 Adelaide. Quarter final matches
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🏳️Mirra Andreeva [3] – Ayla Tomljanovic [WC]
🏳️Diana Schneider [9] – Emma Navarro [6]
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Kimberly Birrell- Jacqueline Christian [Q] Victoria Mboko [8] – Madison Keys [2]
Video review of match day in Adelaide
In Hobart, top seed Emma Raducanu advanced to the quarter-finals without a fight – Magdalena French withdrew from her second round match.
Olga Danilovich, who defeated McCartney Kessler and advanced to the second place, also defeated Peyton Stearns in the 1/8 final.
Third-seeded Iva Jovic crushes her opponents: The young American first gave up just one game to Janice Tjen and then defeated Renata Sarasua with scores of 6:1, 6:2. Her next opponent will be Magda Linette.
WTA 250 Hobart. 1/8 final
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Emma Raducanu [1] – Magdalena French – WO., Raducanu Rebecca Shramkova – Talia Preston [WC] – 4:6, 1:6
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(Adelaide) Leylah Annie Fernandez and her Hungarian playing partner Timea Babos fell 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6) and 6-10 to the Czech Katerina Siniakova and the Chinese Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Adelaide tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Fernandez and Babos bowed after a tight duel lasting one hour and 59 minutes in front of the second seeds of the doubles tournament.
Siniakova and Zhang will face Kazakh Anna Danilina and Serbian Aleksandra Krunic, fourth seeds in the doubles, in the final four.
The Quebecoise, 22e world racket, lost to Russian Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-3 in singles on Monday.
Furthermore, Ontario’s Victoria Mboko, eighth seed, will meet in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles with American Madison Keys, second seed, at the end of the evening.
Mboko is playing her first official WTA singles tournament in 2026, and her first since Hong Kong, which she won, in November 2025.
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Maria Bouzkova [LL] – 6:3, 6:1
