The Russian is determined to make amends, acknowledging that he needs to rebuild his tennis during the preseason if he wants to compete for the top again.
Daniil Medvedev believes that his current game is not enough to compete with Sinner and Alcaraz, proposing a structural change in his tennis to allow him to compete more effectively against them. However, he acknowledges that facing such a challenge at 28 years old is not simple and he is somewhat skeptical about his immediate future.
Highlights and shadows have marked Daniil Medvedev’s season, as he finishes fourth in the ATP ranking without winning titles and showing increasing frustration every time he faces Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The Russian is fully aware of the challenging situation he is in and the need to step out of his comfort zone if he wants to contend for major titles again and aim for the top spot in the world rankings. He expressed this after being eliminated in the 2024 ATP Finals.
– Self-assessment of his season
“If I focus on the expectations and goals I had set, I would rate my year as a 0 out of 10. However, I must emphasize that I will finish in the top 5 and possibly as number 4 in the world. I am proud of that. I fought in every practice session and faced an unfamiliar situation. I used to see myself as dominant against most opponents, and now I have had to struggle to beat anyone. So, my rating for the season I have had would be a 6.5 out of 10. I want to be number 1, but I haven’t played well enough for that,” he stated.
– What he can do to feel competitive again against the best
“I am clear that during the pre-season, I will seek ways to reinvent myself as a tennis player, to reconstruct my game. Right now, I see that I don’t have what it takes to compete confidently against Jannik and Carlos, especially. I will try to improve certain aspects, not so much at the tactical level, but in the execution of shots. I have to be very aggressive and significantly reduce errors. Building an improved version of myself is not going to be easy; in reality, I doubt that I can do it because when you are 28 years old, drastic changes of that kind are complicated,” he commented.
– Alert on Sinner’s level
“This year he has hardly lost any matches; it is very difficult to beat him. I would say he is one of the best players I have ever faced, and I was fortunate to face the Big 4. I would say that Jannik’s ball speed is not the same. I am going to work hard to improve and put myself in a position to beat him someday. I hope that, at some point, he gets tired or loses a bit of confidence and starts making more mistakes because if not, very tough years await the rest of us,” Daniil Medvedev concluded.
