Daniil Medvedev has enlisted a new mentor ahead of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Daniil Medvedev has made a rare change to his coaching camp by enlisting one of his old rivals, Gilles Simon. The retired Frenchman has a unique insight into the world No. 4’s game as he holds a winning record over Medvedev, beating him three times. After falling short in the last two Grand Slam finals, the Russian is hoping that Simon can be the last piece of the puzzle to get over the line and lift more big titles.
Medvedev has been out of competition since he suffered a heartbreaking loss to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final. For the second time in Melbourne, the 28-year-old blew a two-set lead in the championship match. He is now 1-5 in Major finals, also losing one last year at the US Open.
Ahead of his return at the Dubai Championships, the 20-time title winner has enlisted a new mentor – former world No. 6 Simon. The pair have been working together on the practice courts in France in recent weeks but Simon’s exact role is yet to be determined, as Medvedev will continue to work with head coach Gilles Cervara.
“It was interesting and enriching to see the game through different eyes,” Cervara told Tennis Majors as he addressed Simon’s recent work with the team. “Gilles Simon’s title doesn’t matter. What will count is the quality of our work, the harmony of our contributions, and the results. That’s what’s important.”
The idea to hire Simon came from Medvedev himself, who said: “He is going to help us move forward, help us win titles, and help me become a better player.” The world No. 4 lost three of his four matches against the Frenchman and believes that Simon can help him with the weak points of his game.
“We see how it goes. So far it has been going good. Hopefully it is for a very long time but that depends on a lot of factors,” he added. “We will see how much time he spends. For sure Gilles Cervara will be more time with me than Gilles Simon. That is how it works because that is how it was.
“We will see what the future brings as to how many weeks he will be with us. My expectations are that Gilles Simon is a very smart player that can help me improve my game – especially hoping to improve parts of my game that are maybe not the best. So far it’s been going good.”
Simon retired at the end of 2022, going on a heroic final run at the Paris Masters as a wildcard. The 14-time title winner beat Andy Murray in a tight three-setter in the opening round to win his 300th career hard-court match. He then upset No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz before losing at the quarter-final stage.
Medvedev’s only win against the 39-year-old came during Simon’s final season on the tour. The Russian won their ‘s-Hertogenbosch round-of-16 match in straight sets. Before that, he had lost to Simon in Marseille, Queen’s and Lyon.
