Daniil Medvedev did not solve his crisis even at the Toronto Masters 1000, where he had the chance to shine thanks to the numerous forfeits among the top players. The former world number 1 who has a game very suitable for this surface in theory has totally lost his certainties and suffered a new very serious loss.
His run ended against Australian star Alexei Popyrin, who won in a comeback thanks to a very solid performance and made the most of the Russian ace's current weaknesses. The champion from Moscow is expressing a level far from the one that allowed him to become world number 1 after winning his first and only Major title at the US Open in 2021 and his crisis seems to have no solution, generating several doubts about his future at the highest level.
Medvedev disappoints again
The rise of young talent has further distanced Daniil from the top positions of the ATP rankings and he does not seem able to evolve his game, which has become very predictable and does not create problems even for opponents of a lower level. This season is confirming all the difficulties of Medvedev, who ended his collaboration with Gilles Simon after about a year and is relying exclusively on the advice of Gilles Cervara at the moment.
On the latest edition of the 'Sans Filet' show, Julien Varlet analyzed in detail the decline of the Russian ace who has not won a title for more than two years.
"The truth is that Medvedev is in a stagnant phase of his career, in fact perhaps he has even worsened" - Varlet ruled. "He no longer scares his opponents and has lost his certainties, not making the difference in the decisive moments. The body no longer supports him as it did a few years ago and from a technical point of view he has not improved since 2019. Even though I love him as a player, I think his run at the highest level is over," he concluded.
The Russian star's next tournaments will be the Cincinnati Masters 1000 and the US Open, where he triumphed in 2021 and reached the final in 2019 and 2023 as well.
