This summer must have presented plenty of frustration for Daniil Medvedev. The Russian, who is currently ranked number one tennis player in the world, was unable to participate at Wimbledon earlier this year due to the ban enforced by the war in Ukraine.
It’s a set of circumstances that Medvedev can do nothing about, and the 27-year-old was forced to watch from the side-lines as Novak Djokovic oozed class against Nick Kyrgios on centre court to pick up another Grand Slam.
Daniil Medvedev – Russian Professional Tennis Player
Medvedev was riding the crest of a wave having won last year’s US Open and while he was underwhelming at Roland Garros, heading out earlier than expected after a fourth-round loss to Marin Čilić, he will still feel confident he can defend his title despite being unable to play at Wimbledon.
Victory in New York would represent a clear changing of the guard as far as the bets grass tennis players are concerned. Djokovic obviously enters the tournament as clear favourite for those placing an online bet, but not many could run him close in the same way Medvedev can.
Having played in the Halle Open, reaching the final, and winning the Los Cabos Open title in Mexico against Cam Norrie, the Russian is hardly short of match sharpness.
And compared to the likes of Rafael Nadal, who was forced to retire early from Wimbledon due to a plethora of injuries, and Kyrgios, who after ending his title drought in Washington will be fatigued from his busy schedule, Medvedev will be relatively fresh by comparison.
He would have also gained a wealth of confidence from last year’s victory. Medvedev’s maiden Grand Slam title, contested in front of a restricted capacity crowd due to the coronavirus pandemic, was a watershed moment in the Russian’s career.
He beat Djokovic in the final having overcome Dutch overachiever Botic van de Zandschulpand Félix Auger-Aliassime to reach the showpiece at Flushing Meadows.
It was Medvedev who ended Djokovic’s hopes for a calendar slam with his first major in the 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory, and when he served for the championship, having stormed into a 30-0 lead in their final game you could see the relief painted over the face of the Russian, his expression bursting to life as he fell to the floor. He finally bucked the trend of coming up short in finals, and his relief was clear at the end of the game saying: “It’s tough to soak in,”
“I am still cramping a little bit because of nerves. I was cramping in the last game of the match, and I thought if I didn’t make the game I was in big trouble to win these championships. I am just super happy, because when I play against these guys, I’ve lost two finals.”
“I love my, we can call it Russian style, when I don’t celebrate too many victories. I try not to show too many emotions because it actually helps me. If I showed a lot of emotions there would be a lot of bad ones also.”
It will be interesting to see if Medvedev can contain himself upon potentially retaining a title in New York when the tournament starts on August 29th. Coming in at 5/2 he has every chance of victory, but only time will tell if he can back up his status as one of the favourites and right the wrongs of the Wimbledon absence.
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