Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Medvedev has won 22 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including the 2021 US Open and 2020 ATP Finals.

Medvedev made his ATP Tour main draw debut at the 2015 Kremlin Cup. In 2018, Medvedev won his first ATP Tour singles titles, and achieved a breakthrough in 2019, making his top 10 debut and reaching six consecutive tournament finals, including at the US Open. He won the ATP Finals in 2020, defeating the top three ranked players in the world en route to the title. In 2021, Medvedev contested two major finals against Novak Djokovic, winning at the US Open to claim his first major title and deny Djokovic the Grand Slam.

Shortly after reaching another Australian Open final in 2022, Medvedev became the first man outside of the Big Four to attain the world No. 1 ranking in nearly 20 years, the third Russian man to do so after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, and the 27th man overall. He then suffered with inconsistent form, at times dropping out of the top 10 whilst simultaneously reaching two more major finals and returning to the top 5.

Early life

Daniil Medvedev was born in Moscow to Sergey Medvedev and Olga Medvedeva. Daniil's father, a computer engineer, developed his own business of building materials sales, from the mid-1980s to the early 2010s. Medvedev has two older sisters named Julia and Elena, 12 and 8 years his senior, respectively.

When Daniil was six years old, his mother noticed an advertisement for group tennis lessons at the pool where he was taking swimming lessons. His father encouraged him to enroll. Medvedev's first tennis teacher was Ekaterina Kryuchkova, a former coach of professional tennis player Vera Zvonareva among others. Daniil's other childhood activities besides sport included harpsichord and guitar lessons.

Medvedev studied physics and maths at a specialized school before graduating early and enrolling in economics and commerce at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He later dropped out to focus on tennis. He then switched to the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism, where he received his diploma as coach. With his family he moved to Antibes, France where he trained at the tennis academy. His parents have been living in France as retirees since.

Personal life

As a result of living mostly overseas after turning 18, Medvedev can speak French and English fluently, besides his native Russian. He is a fan of FC Bayern Munich.

Medvedev married his then–girlfriend Daria Chernyshkova, a Moscow State University graduate and former juniors tennis player, in Moscow on 12 September 2018. On 14 October 2022, they announced the birth of their daughter, Alisa. On 7 January 2025, they announced the birth of their second daughter, Vika. In September 2019, he credited his marriage for the improvement of his tennis results: "Before I made a proposal, I had been on the 65th place in the ranking, and then in ten months I've won two major tournaments and entered the top 10. We have significantly rebuilt our life, we work for each other. I earn [money], and Daria helps me to earn more".

Junior career

Medvedev played his first junior match in July 2009 at the age of 13 at a grade 4 tournament in Estonia. In December 2010, he won his first junior title as a qualifier at just his third tournament.

In 2012–2013 seasons, the young Russian had significant results on the junior circuit as he won six titles between October 2012 and July 2013, which included four consecutive titles. He made his junior Grand Slam debut at 2013 Junior Wimbledon where he won his first round match against Hong Seong-chan but lost in the second round to 2nd seed Nikola Milojević. At the 2013 Junior US Open, he went into the tournament seeded 10th and made the third round where he lost to Johan Tatlot.

Medvedev reached his career-high junior ranking of world No. 13 at the beginning of 2014 and went into the 2014 Junior Australian Open seeded 8th. He ended his junior career after a first round loss at 2014 Junior Wimbledon.

Medvedev ended his junior career with an overall win–loss record of 109–43 and wins over several future stars including Alexander Zverev and Reilly Opelka.

Junior Grand Slam results – singles:

Australian Open: 3R (2014)
French Open: 3R (2014)
Wimbledon: 2R (2013)
US Open: 3R (2013)

Professional career

2015–2016: Early pro career

Medvedev made his ATP main draw debut at the 2015 Kremlin Cup, partnering Aslan Karatsev in the doubles event. The two defeated Aliaksandr Bury and Denis Istomin in the first round but were defeated by Radu Albot and František Čermák in the second round.

As a qualifier, Medvedev made his ATP singles main draw debut at the 2016 Nice Open, losing to Guido Pella in three sets. Three weeks later he earned his first singles ATP World Tour win at the 2016 Ricoh Open, defeating Horacio Zeballos in straight sets.

Medvedev was disqualified from the second round of the Savannah Challenger event (in Georgia, U.S.) for comments he made after the umpire ruled in favor of his opponent. Medvedev thought he had won a break point against his opponent Donald Young's serve, but chair umpire Sandy French ruled that his returning shot had gone out. After that, Medvedev said Young and French were friends. As both parties are black, he was disqualified mid-match for allegedly 'question[ing] the impartiality of the umpire based on her race'.

2017: First ATP final

In January 2017, Medvedev reached his first ATP singles final. In the final at the Chennai Open he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in two sets. As a result, Medvedev jumped 34 positions from 99 to 65 in the ATP rankings, a new career-high. In February, he advanced to the quarterfinals of both the Open Sud de France and the Open 13, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille respectively.

In June, he made it to the quarterfinals of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, defeating the 6th seed, Robin Haase, and Thanasi Kokkinakis before losing to Ivo Karlović in straight sets. At the Aegon Championships, he advanced to his first ATP 500 quarterfinal by beating Nicolas Mahut and Kokkinakis in the first two rounds, before losing to the No. 6 seed, Grigor Dimitrov, in the quarterfinals. One week later, he on grass advanced to the semifinal of Eastbourne International, losing to Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev registered his maiden Grand Slam match win at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, defeating fifth seed and world No. 3, Stan Wawrinka, in the first round in four sets. He lost in the next round to Ruben Bemelmans. Medvedev was handed three fines totaling $14,500 (£11,200) for his conduct during the match with Bemelmans: $7,000 for insulting the umpire on two occasions and $7,500 for throwing coins under the umpire's chair.

2018: First ATP titles

Medvedev started the 2018 season by qualifying for the Sydney International. He reached the final, which he won against Australian Alex de Minaur. The final was the youngest ATP Tour tournament final since 20-year-old Rafael Nadal defeated a 19-year-old Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2007 Indian Wells Masters. It also was the tournament's youngest final since 1989.

In August, Medvedev won his second ATP title at the 2018 Winston-Salem Open after defeating Steve Johnson in straight sets. In October, Medvedev won his first ATP 500 and third career ATP title in Tokyo as a qualifier, overcoming Japanese star and No. 3 seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets in the final. This triumph brought him to a new career high ranking of No. 22 and made him the No. 1 player in Russia. The victory also marked the third consecutive final that Medvedev had beaten the home favorite in to win the title. Medvedev reached the Kremlin Cup semifinal, losing to his countryman and eventual champion Karen Khachanov. One week later, he made the semifinals at the Swiss Indoors, which he lost to Roger Federer. After the tournament, he achieved a new career high ranking of world No. 16.

Medvedev finished 2018 with the most hard court match wins of any player on the ATP Tour (38 wins). He also had the most titles on hard court tournaments (3 titles), tying with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Karen Khachanov.