Athletistic / Tennis. Daniil Medvedev is the only active Russian tennis player (regardless of gender) who has won a Grand Slam tournament. This happened in 2021 at the US Open in New York. Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and Danya managed to lose three major finals (two in Austria and one in the USA). But all Russian finals at TBS are associated with hard courts: the rubber surface is perfectly suited to Medvedev’s style and anthropometric data. But on grass and clay, he does not do very well.

In 2023, Medvedev sensationally won the Masters on clay in Rome, but then failed at Roland Garros, losing in the first round. In 2024, Danya was no longer so hot on the “thousands” of clay, but in Paris he reached the 1/8 finals, which, by his standards, is a very worthy result. The Russian has a slightly better relationship with grass, and he achieved his best result at Wimbledon in 2023.

Due to the start of the SVO in Ukraine, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is responsible for organizing Wimbledon, succumbed to political circumstances and pressure from the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and banned all tennis players from Russia and Belarus. from participating in competitions under its auspices. This did not please the ATP and WTA, which deprived Wimbledon of ranking points, making it an exhibition tournament, and also fined the LTA $1 million each. Therefore, in 2023, such sanctions were not applied against Russians and Belarusians.

A year ago, Medvedev arrived in London as the third racket of the world and after a very successful performance at the grass tournaments that took place for three weeks between Roland Garros and Wimdon. In the first round, Danya defeated the British Arthur Fery in three sets, then withstood the test of the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, defeated the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the third round and broke through the barrier of the 1/8 finals of Wimbledon on the refusal of the Czech Jiri Leeckka (to be fair, Leeckka refused with the score 4:6, 2:6 not in your favor).

Photo source: wimbledon.com

After beating Legechka, Medvedev set a personal record at Wimbledon and entered the second week of a Grand Slam on grass for the first time. But appetite, as we know, comes with eating. Therefore, in the quarterfinals, Danya was definitely not going to rest on his laurels and was preparing for the fight. The Russian’s opponent was American Christopher Eubanks, whose tennis is ideal for playing on grass. By the way, on the way to the quarterfinals, the American knocked Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the tournament, depriving tennis fans of another round of confrontation between the Greek and Medvedev.

Before meeting at Wimbledon, Medvedev and Eubanks met only once on the ATP tour: it was in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters (hard), where the Russian beat the American with a score of 6:3, 7:5. By the way, Medvedev would later win this tournament.

The rivals were separated by 40 places in the ATP ranking. Therefore, many might assume that Medvedev would have an easy path. But they were very wrong. Eubanks showed a very high level of play and created big problems for the Russian. And before arriving at Wimbledon, Christopher won the tournament on grass in Mallorca (Spain).

Medvdev started the match successfully, breaking very quickly. It was clear from the American that he lacked experience at this stage of Grand Slam tournaments – he was visibly nervous and made a lot of mistakes. As a result, Danya calmly won the first game with a score of 6:4. But then the Russian started having problems.

In the second set, Eubanks eliminated mistakes, increased his speed and beat Medvedev with a score of 6:1. And this is not to say that the Russian sank much, it is just that his opponent improved so much that he found himself on another level.

Photo source: LTA

In the first game of the third set, Medvedev immediately gave back his serve. As a result, Christopher held this break until the very end and left the match behind him – 6:4. Medvedev is hanging on by a thread.

Feeling the threat of defeat, Daniel managed to find strength in himself and increase his strength. This allowed him to reach the same level as his opponent and prevented him from solving all questions about the winner already in the fourth set. As a result, there was a tiebreaker, where Medvedev, using his moral strength, managed to beat the American (7-4) and bring the match into a decisive match.

As it turned out later, the fourth set turned out to be the key to the match. Danya managed to knock the ground out from under his opponent’s feet and deprive him of confidence. The Russian stormed the fifth game, broke three times, confidently held his serve and won with a score of 6:1. Medvedev is in the semifinals.

Just one length away from the Wimbledon final, Daniil Medvedev would be stopped by the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (3:6, 3:6, 3:6). It was Carlitos who would eventually become the winner of the tournament, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final in an incredibly dramatic match.

For Medvedev, the relative success at Wimbledon 2023 should be a guide to conquer new heights this time. The Russian is not having the best season, falling to fifth place in the world rankings, but he can already correct all that in London. Danya is a passionate tennis player. If he applies the experience of the match with Eubanks to the entire Slam on grass this season, he can aim for a lot.

The Russian representative has never won Wimbledon in men’s singles. It’s time to break this tradition. Why shouldn’t Daniil Medvedev do that?!

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic