A foil to the zen of Federer and the ruthless, gladiatorial style of Djokovic, the player many have likened to an octopus has entered his peak in his own, distinctive way
Fans of tennis – from the casual viewer who tunes in when the lead names play at the majors to the hard-liners dialled into the tour the same way a Swiftie obsessively chases down the singer from stadium to stadium – will know that the men’s side of things is coming to the end of a slowly drawn-out transition. Fading out is the zen-like grace of Roger Federer (who, in 2022, departed the sport at 41), the muscular aggression of Rafael Nadal, 38, and the cold, hard gladiatorial brilliance of Novak Djokovic (though still a frequent tournament favourite, he is nonetheless an elder legend moving into his third decade in the sport), and in comes a new set of headliners.
There’s Carlos Alcaraz, the lodestar of the younger generation and the current Wimbledon champion who, having only turned 21 in May, is already lionised for his explosive all-round form that centres on a pretty alarming combination of the Big Three’s styles.
Jannik Sinner – all Gucci duffles, mop of hair, and arsenal of strokes once compared to a ‘freight train’ – guides the way, too.
Image: Getty
Then, there’s Daniil Medvedev, 28, the tennis iconoclast who sits at a junction between the two epochs. A shapeshifter in the way he manoeuvres through games (John McEnroe has likened him to a chess master). A maverick with his style of play (some have said his swings may remind you of a person swatting flies with a magazine; peers have called him the octopus, such is the mastery of his court coverage; his returns are often closer to the back fence than they are to the baseline). A true original who’s been handed manifold labels (gamer, nerd, quirky, an enigma, a whirlwind, like a tornado from The Wizard of Oz).
“I know that, maybe, my technique is not like the most beautiful at times – but that’s just me,” he tells GJ, days before the start of Wimbledon.
In September, 2021, Medvedev proved himself the ultimate disruptor when he upset Djokovic in the US Open final, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, not only to claim his first major title, but to also prevent the Serb from becoming the third man to clean up the Grand Slam. Medvedev, showcasing his love of gaming and his tennis unorthodoxy, celebrated the match point with a ‘dead fish’ pose, a nod to the FIFA celebration.
“Only legends will understand. What I did after the match was L2 + left,” he said in his on-court speech.
Medvedev’s ‘dead fish’ celebration, following his US Open final win, in 2021. Image: Getty
Medvedev, currently No.5 in the ATP rankings, had a strong start to 2024, reaching the finals of both the Australian Open and Indian Wells, as well as the semi-final of the Miami Open, and, following his semi-final exit at Wimbledon, in 2023, he’s looking at another deep run in SW19 in the coming fortnight.
Below, we talk to Medvedev about his chances at this year’s Wimbledon, whether or not he is at his peak, the unorthodox style with which he plays, and life and business beyond the court.
GJ: Last year, at Wimbledon, you went on a pretty good run, before eventually bowing out to Carlos Alcaraz – how are you feeling about the tournament this year?
Image: Getty
DM: Last year, Wimbledon was good. Look, I always try my best. Tennis is an up-and-down sport, so I’m going to try my best. I always have big hopes for Grand Slams, I always want to do well, and I managed many times to do well.
Wimbledon is definitely one of the tournaments where I feel like I have my chances to go far. And I’m going to try to do it this year. Expectations… I would say I’m neither very high, neither low, and I just try to do my best.
Is it the same approach every time?
Depends a little bit on your mood, on the tournaments before. Always searching for what’s the best approach for this time, and I feel like, right now, if my hopes are too high, it might not be the best thing. I build my confidence step by step.
What has been the biggest challenge – mentally and physically – so far this year?
I’d say mentally is… I’m getting older. When I say getting older, I’m still very young, but I’ve been on the tour for some time already. When I was 20, 21, 22, you just play tournaments non-stop, you just go for it. Now, I feel like my body cannot work with, let’s say, 25 tournaments a year, so I have to choose them more wisely. And, at the same time, many times, the more tournaments you play, the more confidence you get. So, it’s this balance. And, also, I want to spend a lot of time with my family – my wife, my daughter – so it’s this balancing where I want to stay at home, but I want to be good, I want to practise good. I want to play tournaments and win them.
It’s a tough balance to find and it’s actually very challenging, but I’m sure that I’m going to find the right one when I need to.
Physically, I had some pain in my shoulder that was a little bit… let’s call it unexplainable. It was a big job with my team to work on it, and it’s getting better and better.
Image: Getty
One publication, in February, stated: ‘peak Medvedev… is truly here.’ Do you agree with that statement?
Well, I was during the Australian Open. I feel like my hard-court season was very good. I played four tournaments and, in Dubai, I was coming back from an injury – so, I still played four semis, two finals. So, it was a good one – and then clay and grass, for sure, are a bit more challenging for me to play on. So, I’m very disappointed that I didn’t manage to continue the semi-finals and finals or winning, but it stays okay with me, so, hopefully, I can get to my peak at Wimbledon.
Are you enjoying being in this new era of tennis that’s headlined by you, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner? Or is it frustrating, in a way, given that you also had/have Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic?
To be honest with you, I enjoy playing tennis, I enjoy winning. Now, I’m No.5 in the world and not long ago I was probably like No.3, then at one moment, last year, I was at No.2 – so, I want to go higher, I’m not enjoying being No.5. I want to be better, I’m not enjoying that I haven’t had a title for some time. I want to get the title.
And talking about opponents – there are always going to be great guys, great opponents, and for sure it was – it is – very nice to still play with Novak and Rafa. Even if there are new guys, it’s good for tennis. There’s competition. I just focus on myself and try to go for it.
Image: Getty
Journalists and pundits always seem to focus on your unorthodox style – have you always enjoyed being slightly left-field? If so, did you grow up appreciating the mavericks of tennis, and of sports in general?
I always say that, in a way, I just do what I do.
When I was a bit younger, maybe like 21, one moment I was going up, maybe top five in my age category, and maybe top ten, which was not bad – and I felt like I had the potential to be there, and no one was talking about me. And, from one side, it would be frustrating sometimes – you get a good result, and everyone is talking about the other guy. And from the other side, I was like, Who cares? I just do my thing. And it’s the same here. I know that, maybe, my technique is not like the most beautiful at times – but that’s just me.
I enjoy watching the guys with a more… let’s call it clean technique. Usually, they’re less tall. The taller you are, the tougher it is to have clean technique, just because your arms are bigger, so you’ll find a different way to put the ball in.
You’re obviously known for your good memory of certain game scenarios – I guess that can be a blessing and a curse. Do you tend to hold on to experiences you felt could’ve gone better? Or do you have the ability to compartmentalise and move on?
Image: Getty
I feel like I’m good and bad at the same time – I’m good for forgetting the bad moments, and I’m bad because I forget the good moments. I maybe should, sometimes, think more about the good matches and the good memories I have in tennis, to try to pump myself up with that.
I tend to live more in the present. I try to not think too much about the future – a little bit, because the future is important – and I really try to not think much about the past, unless you feel like you can learn from the mistakes. Otherwise, it’s gone.
It stays in the memory, and I keep it – I feel like I have a good memory, but, other than that, this moment has already passed in life. I’m looking for the next moment.
I believe that you think tennis is getting slower, and that this suits your type of style, but perhaps you don’t like it overall. Would you be able to elaborate on why that is?
In general, the balls and courts are getting slower and slower – from one point of view, it’s understandable, because apparently, in the 2000s, it was lightning fast from what I heard, and that’s why everyone was going to the net, because from the baseline you couldn’t play. Now, it’s completely different.
But, I feel like it’s going too much – I feel like, every year, it’s going slower and slower. Already we have a lot of long rallies, serves sometimes don’t matter as much as before.
Is it making it less enjoyable for you?
It’s tougher on the body and I feel like, sometimes, it’s less enjoyable when you cannot hit one ball and hit a winner. I can only talk for myself – I like medium-court speed and sometimes we get it. And the grass is so much slower than even when I started playing on grass, like eight years ago. But it is what it is.
Would you be able to elaborate a little bit on your life outside the court, specifically the business side of things with RawQ [Medvedev’s line of energy bars] and why you decided to kickstart this?
Image: RawQ
The story is kind of easy. I’m someone who eats a lot. To have good digestion, I usually try to eat two or three hours before the match – but, when it would come to the match, I will be quite hungry. When the match starts, there’s some stress, I would be feeling not good. And so, at first, I had bananas… but I could feel that in my stomach it was not perfect.
Then, with my team, we decided to eat some energy bars, and even when we found some quite good ones, it would never be the one. So, my wife got inspired by this with her friend, and they decided to create a bar company – and they made a really good product, which was scary for them, because imagine if, on the first time trying it, I went, Hmm no, that’s not the one! I really hope, at one moment, we can be a huge company, a leader in the industry.
Overall, what does your wellness routine look like? I believe that you’re quite routine-driven, but that you change things up every so often.
Tennis is such a tough sport – when you win, you want to keep the routine, but as soon as you start losing some matches, you’re like, Oh my god, I have to change something.
I’m not superstitious, so I don’t eat exactly the same breakfast as I did when I won a tournament. But, at the same time, if when I won a tournament, I was feeling good during the match, I’m like, Yeah, maybe what I had was good.
During the tournament, I try not to eat gluten, no dairy – from what I heard, my body needs protein and carbohydrates: chicken with rice, as always.
Finally, I understand you’re a big fan of German football – it’s a shame about Bayern Munich last season; however, are you enjoying the Euros so far, given that Germany are doing fairly well?
Yeah, I’m actually a big fan of football, but this past couple of weeks were really busy. I would say I saw maybe five matches, which is not a lot, so I hope that here, during Wimbledon, I’m gonna win matches and have some time off in the evening to watch some football.
Germany – I saw the first game, they were playing well. I heard they were not playing that well the other two games, but I didn’t see, so I just hope they can play well.
In general, I’m a big Bayern Munich fan; when it comes to national teams, I’m a little more relaxed, so I just like to enjoy and watch – so, hopefully, starting from the playoffs, I can watch more matches and enjoy it some more.
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