2022 has been a very peculiar year for Daniil Medvedev. Mid-third set of the Australian Open final, Medvedev was king of the world, seemingly destined for a period of dominance of men’s tennis, at least on hard courts. It all unraveled from there though. Rafael Nadal came back and prevented him from winning a second consecutive Slam, and Medvedev hasn’t been the same since. He lost two other finals (both on grass) and only won a title in Los Cabos; he followed that title up with disappointing losses to Nick Kyrgios in Canada and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Cincinnati. Aside from the mental hit of losing the final in Melbourne for a second consecutive year, the political situation with Russia has affected Medvedev as well and he’s having a pretty disappointing season despite being #5 in the race with a Slam final.
The US Open has been the stage of Medvedev’s biggest career moments: in 2019, he reached his first Slam final in New York (losing, once again, a five-setter against Nadal), and last year he captured his first Slam title, foiling Novak Djokovic’s Calendar Grand Slam quest in the process. If there’s a venue that can reignite Medvedev’s season it’s this one. Despite his struggles, many consider him the favorite to win the tournament, even ahead of Nadal.
A second round match against Arthur Rinderknech is unlikely to be a significant obstacle, but Nick Kyrgios is lurking in the 4th round and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals. Medvedev will absolutely need to be in his best form to return to the final in New York. Without at least a final, Medvedev will have no chance of retaining his #1 ranking and it’ll most likely take a title to do it.
Many have referred to Medvedev as a “weak” #1 as he hasn’t really been dominant at all; in fact, since his US Open title last year, he only won a 250 in Los Cabos. This is Medvedev’s chances to turn the narrative by winning a second Slam title, while another disappointing result would be a heavy blow to his confidence and make it even harder to snap out of his slump. These next two weeks will be key for Medvedev’s career and the landscape of men’s tennis going forward.
Main Photo from Getty.
