2025 was another fairly complicated year for Daniil Medvedev, who struggled to regain those certainties that had allowed him to achieve exceptional results until a year and a half ago. The former world number 1 had to fight against his inner demons and made a very brave choice immediately after the US Open, parting ways with his coach Gilles Cervara who had accompanied him in the best moments of his career.
That shock was crucial for the winner of the 2021 US Open, who could not continue to play like that having been a top player for a long time. The Russian ace showed some signs of recovery in the latter part of this season, putting in some good performances and finally returning to win a title after more than a year and a half of fasting. He lifted the trophy in Almaty, also reaching the semifinals in the prestigious Beijing ATP 500.
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Those results allowed him to hope again to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, but the elimination against Alexander Zverev at the Paris Masters 1000 condemned him to end his season early.
Medvedev endedhis worst season
There is no doubt that the 2026 season will be crucial for Daniil in all respects, which is why he is working harder than ever to be ready. The first huge tournament will obviously be the Australian Open, which will start on January 18 in Melbourne, with Medvedev who has almost always expressed excellent tennis there. The champion from Moscow has reached the final in the Happy Slam three times (in 2021, 2022 and 2024) and has twice been one set away from winning the title, respectively against Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner.
During an interview with 'Bolshe', the former world number 1 confided that he has experienced mixed feelings in recent months: There was one moment this year, probably during the American swing, especially after it, where I thought: Im 29, maybe I just cant anymore. But pretty quickly, even before Beijing and Shanghai, during practice in Monaco I was hitting so well that probably only Sinner or Alcaraz could beat me. That was before China.
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And that was when I was like, okay, I can still do it. The fear went away. There are some fears. They come, and they go.
