After a miserable Grand Slam season and questions about his motivation, Daniil Medvedev has finally shown signs of life. The 29-year-old went two years without an ATP title and managed just one Grand Slam win in 2025, but his run to the trophy at ATP Almaty in Kazakhstan has revitalized his season and created real momentum for 2026. Perhaps most importantly, he looked like a man finally having a bit of fun on the court.
Daniil Medvedev Fights Through Adversity in Almaty
The #2 seed on the week at the ATP 250 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Medvedev needed two close sets to beat out Adam Walton in his first match. Walton, an Australian battler, was held scoreless in the second set tiebreak. Fabian Marozsan was Medvedev’s quarterfinal opponent and that scoreline was 7-5 6-2. Qualifier James Duckworth took a set off Medvedev in a close tiebreak in the semifinals, but Medvedev would respond well to adversity and take the match 6-7 6-3 6-2.
In the final against Corentin Moutet, it was nip and tuck, the French player took the second set after Medvedev had narrowly taken the first, but Medvedev would perform best in the deciding set and lift his first ATP title since 2023. In that span, Medvedev had lost six consecutive finals, though five of them came against the “big three” of Novak Djokovic (2023 US Open), Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner defeated Medvedev in three different finals including the 2024 Australian Open final. Medvedev had tried new tactics against the elite Sinner, but they didn’t pay off.
A note about the win in Almaty, Medvedev has won 21 career titles, at 21 different locations on the tennis globe.
A New Direction for Medvedev
Medvedev’s 2025 was rocky, he lost to the talented Learner Tien at the Australian Open in round 2, Jaume Munar upset him in Miami, Cameron Norrie dumped him out in the first round of Roland Garros. He lost the Halle final on grass to Alexander Bublik, despite a strong week, and then came the meltdown against Benjamin Bonzi at the US Open, the same Bonzi who had defeated him round 1 at Wimbledon.
A former world number one, Medvedev was casually striking unforced errors and melting down mentally against Bonzi in New York, eventually losing in five sets in a wild match. After that match Medvedev broke up his team, splitting with coach Gilles Cervara after eight years together.
A new coaching team paid immediate dividends for Medvedev, as Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke are now shepherding his quest to return to the elite of the sport. It says a lot that he lifted an ATP Title in Almaty just a short time after linking with the new coaching team.
The Asian Swing Gives Medvedev Hope for 2025
The early round defeats in Grand Slams crushed Medvedev’s ranking, he’s currently 13th with ATP Vienna (a 500) and the ATP Paris Masters pending. Medvedev is also 13th in the race to Turin rankings and would need to continue his remarkable form in the next two weeks to reach the elite 8.
Medvedev’s Asian swing started in pedestrian fashion, wild card Yibing Wu beat him in three sets in Hangzhou, and it felt like Medvedev had once again been stripped of confidence and resiliency in his game. He immediately improved his results in Beijing however, defeating Norrie, and also his nemesis Alexander Zverev in straight sets, before another loss to Tien, a match he lost in the semifinals due to cramping.
Medvedev would still participate in the Shanghai Masters, and he didn’t appear to have lingering physical issues as he defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the second tournament in a row, then in a rematch with Tien, came out ahead in a three-set war that produced a number of highlights and ended 6-4 in the third after two tiebreaks. Medvedev would then edge out Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of Shanghai, before failing to close out his semifinal against the rapidly rising Arthur Rinderknech. Medvedev still lacks consistency in his powerful, and flat game, as he played better than Rinderknech for much of the match.
Since the US Open, Medvedev has reached two semifinals and won a title, and he should be competitive in Vienna where he opens his tournament against Nuno Borges.
Medvedev’s Upside in 2026
It’s hard to argue that Medvedev isn’t one of the players who can challenge the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, or at least take advantage if they lose or aren’t in the field of a tournament. With Novak Djokovic slowing down with age and physical problems, tennis fans continue to look for another name who can make men’s tennis less boring. Medvedev has the physical tools, but remains mentally mercurial, and if his new coaching partnership is helping him mentally lock in, then he has massive upside in terms of ranking points to accumulate in Grand Slams in 2026.
Medvedev will be one of the most closely watched players on tour in the coming season. If his newfound confidence holds, Medvedev could turn 2026 into the redemption season he’s been chasing since his peak years.
Main Photo Credit: © Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK
