To mark the end of another thrilling season, ATPTour.com is unveiling our annual ‘Best Of’ series, which will reflect on the most intriguing rivalries, matches, comebacks, upsets and more. This week, we are looking at the best rivalries of the year.
Momentum can mean a lot when it comes to a rivalry. Just ask Jannik Sinner.
The Italian continued a remarkable turnaround in his story with Daniil Medvedev in 2024, during which he triumphed in five of the pair’s six tour-level meetings. Sinner has all but banished the memory of his opening six-match losing streak against Medvedev. After his group-stage victory at the Nitto ATP Finals earlier this month, he now leads the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series for the first time (8-7).
As part of ATPTour.com’s annual season-in-review series, we look back at Sinner and Medvedev’s matchups in 2024.
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Australian Open F, Sinner d. Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Perhaps things would have played out differently in the Sinner vs. Medvedev rivalry this year had the latter been able to maintain his red-hot start in January’s Australian Open final. Medvedev eased into a two-set lead inside Rod Laver Arena, expertly capitalising on any early nerves Sinner showed in his maiden major championship match.
Yet Medvedev’s uncharacteristically aggressive tactics, characterised by his decision to stand closer than usual to the baseline on return, could not propel the fourth seed to his second major crown. Sinner showed no sign of panic and forged a remarkable comeback, based on his trademark pinpoint serving and heavy groundstrokes, to earn a three-hour, 44-minute triumph.
“I was expecting something different from his side, so I had this feeling that he might come out a little bit more aggressive. Not this aggressive,” admitted Sinner after clinching his first Grand Slam title. “He played really, really well for the first two sets or two-and-a-half sets. I tried just to play an even level, trying to take a couple of chances in the third set, which I did. When you win one very important game, the match can change occasionally, and that was the case today.”
Miami SF, Sinner d Medvedev 6-1, 6-2
If their Melbourne clash had been a battle, Sinner and Medvedev’s semi-final meeting at March’s Miami Open presented by Itau was more akin to a procession. Sinner entered the match with a 20-1 record for the season, and the 22-year-old played like a man full of confidence to wrap a comprehensive 69-minute win. It remains the most one-sided scoreline of Sinner and Medvedev’s 15 tour-level encounters so far.
His semi-final victory in Miami, where he went on to defeat Grigor Dimitrov in the final, was Sinner’s fifth in a row against Medvedev, whom he had not defeated in six attempts prior to October 2023. Six months later and the Italian had reduced his Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit to 5-6, leaving pundits and fans alike wondering: Did Medvedev have any response?
Wimbledon QF, Medvedev d Sinner 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3
By the time of their next meeting in July at Wimbledon, the in-form Sinner had risen to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time. He won his maiden grass-court title in Halle in June and stepped onto Centre Court to face Medvedev having seen off former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and the dangerous Ben Shelton en route to the quarter-finals.
Yet as he has so often throughout his career, Medvedev dug deep to outmanoeuvre a big-hitting elite rival. He dropped the first set in a tie-break but then went into ‘lockdown mode’ from deep behind the baseline, ultimately outlasting Sinner in a four-hour battle. Medvedev’s commitment to play front-foot tennis proved crucial, vindicating his approach after his heartbreak in Melbourne six months earlier.
“[I was thinking about Melbourne] tactically, because I felt like at the Australian Open I did a lot of good things tactically,” said Medvedev. “I didn’t manage to get it to the end, but I felt like I was playing well. I tried to do it in Miami, also. It didn’t work. I think I went a little too much… Mentally it was a good match today because I actually didn’t think about the match in Australia. Not before the fifth set, ‘Oh, my God, it’s again five sets’. No, I was there to fight, to do my best.”
<img alt=”Daniil Medvedev/Jannik Sinner” style=”width: 100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/11/21/16/29/medvedev-sinner-wimbledon-2024-net.jpg” />
Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner in action at Wimbledon. Photo Credit: Francois Nel/Getty Images
US Open QF, Sinner d Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
After his Wimbledon disappointment, Sinner did not have to wait long for the opportunity to exact his Grand Slam revenge on Medvedev. The pair clashed in the quarter-finals at the US Open, their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting at the New York major, and the World No. 1 pulled through for an ultimately comfortable four-set triumph.
The two-hour, 39-minute encounter was further evidence that Sinner was becoming increasingly comfortable with Medvedev’s somewhat metronomic game, but it was also a clear demonstration of a player primed to grind out win after win. Even in a match that contained several big momentum shifts, Sinner’s big-time ballstriking proved consistent enough to power past one of the game’s best baseline retrievers.
“It was very tough, we know each other quite well,” said Sinner, who completed the set of reaching the semi-finals at all four Grand Slam events with his quarter-final win. “We played in Australia this year and then London. We knew it was going to be very physical. It was strange the first two sets because whoever made the first break then started to roll.”
Shanghai QF, Sinner d Medvedev 6-1, 6-4
From an 0-6 start, Sinner’s equaliser in his barnstorming Lexus ATP Head2Head comeback against Medvedev was sealed with ease at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Medvedev struggled physically at times and received treatment on his shoulder from the physio in the second set of the pair’s quarter-final clash in China. After top seed Sinner came out firing en route to the first set inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, those physical issues undermined any potential comeback bid from the 28-year-old Medvedev.
Sinner saved the only break point he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to an 85-minute triumph that drew him level with Medvedev on seven wins each. The Italian went on to defeat Novak Djokovic in the final in Shanghai, earning him his third ATP Masters 1000 crown of the season.
Nitto ATP Finals RR, Sinner d Medvedev 6-3, 6-4
Sinner rounded off his dominant year against Medvedev on home soil in November at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he extinguished his rival’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals with a calm and collected performance. Medvedev needed a straight-sets victory to give himself a chance of progressing to the last four, but Sinner capped a perfect group-stage showing in Turin by capitalising on 30 unforced errors from his opponent.
As he sat down to reflect on his 2024 season at his post-match press conference, Medvedev was asked about Sinner’s surge to an 8-7 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The 28-year-old was in no doubt that Sinner was a direct threat to his own potential for adding to his 20 tour-level titles.
“Look, he’s barely losing this year,” said Medvedev of the Italian, who went on to lift the trophy in Turin. “If you want to win a title, you will face him at one moment. It’s not easy to beat him. A lot of people try. A lot of people fail. There is mostly one guy who does it a little bit more times than the others, and it’s Carlos [Alcaraz]. He’s a very, very strong opponent.
“He’s maybe one of the best players I have faced. I faced the Big Four a little bit when they were a little bit older, and maybe [their] speed was not the same. I’m going to try to work in pre-season. Maybe at one point he loses his confidence, starts to miss some balls. Otherwise, everyone, not only me, is in for very, very tough years ahead of us because he’s very young.”
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