Russian Daniil Medvedev is at the forefront of this class of players and has enjoyed tremendous success on hard courts.
Wimbledon has been the toughest tournament for much of the ATP tour to find any sort of success in. No man outside of the ‘Big 4’ of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, or Rafael Nadal has won at the most prestigious tournament in tennis since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, illustrating what an excluding club of winners the Championships have had over the last two decades. Djokovic has won 6 of the last 8 tournaments, and enters the 2023 edition as favourite yet again. The current generation of men’s tennis is full of players who are defensively capable but prefer playing from the baseline — a style which suits the slower hard and clay courts, but is a liability on grass courts which is far quicker and where the ball stays significantly lower, with skill at the net essential.
Russian Daniil Medvedev is at the forefront of this class of players, and has enjoyed tremendous success on hard courts. The 2021 US Open winner also has two finals appearances in Australia, has won 5 of the 6 Masters 1000 events held on hard courts, and was champions of the year-end World Tour Finals in 2020. A grinding defensive baseliner, however, Medvedev has enjoyed very little success on grass. He has a record of 34-18 on the surface, and has never progressed beyond the fourth round at SW19.
“Grass is so tough for me,” said Medvedev in a press conference after his victory over Laslo Djere at the Halle Open, a warm-up grass event to Wimbledon. “You can actually play a perfect match and lose on two tie-breaks, so it’s a little bit strange for me.” Grass does benefit serve, and earning and winning break points is difficult, which is why Djokovic, arguably the greatest returner of serve of all time, has enjoyed such success, as his strengths stand out more.
Medvedev also holds a similar opinion, and complemented the Serb for his ability on grass courts, as well as Federer, who holds the record for most Wimbledon titles won. “When I see top players like Roger and Novak, from one side they can seem like aliens but you try to see the best in them, and how they are able on this surface, where it’s sometimes tricky to beat anyone, to have so many titles. Wimbledon, Halle, whatever.” Federer also has 10 titles at Halle, and was in the German city to celebrate ‘Roger Federer Day’ at its 30th anniversary this week.
“It’s just amazing and that’s what I try to watch,” said Medvedev of Djokovic and Federer’s game on grass. The pair contested against each other 4 times at Wimbledon, with Federer winning their first encounter in 2012, but Djokovic winning against an ageing Federer in the finals of the 2014, 2015, and 2019 tournaments — all classic matches, two of which went 5 sets.
Medvedev never beat Federer in their three meetings, and in fact only picked up one set from their encounters. He has won 5 out of 14 matches against Djokovic, however, including the 2021 US Open final, where he denied the Serb a historic calendar year grand slam. He also became the first man to take the world number one rank away from the big 4 in 18 years, when he ascended to the top rank early last year.
Djokovic is on track for that achievement again, having won the first two grand slams of the year. Medvedev might not fancy his chances on grass, but after a disappointing start to the year in grand slam play will look for some big wins at Wimbledon, hoping to make the second week for only the second time and put himself in position for a run at the world number one title yet again. Djokovic, meanwhile, will be looking for grand slam title number 24, and to keep his phenomenal year rolling, once Wimbledon begins on July 3.
