Daniil Medvedev is the No. 5 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings, and he has won seven ATP Tour titles, lifting each of those trophies since the beginning of 2018.

ATPTour.com looks at five things you should know about the 24-year-old.

1) 2019 Was The Best Season Of His Career
Daniil Medvedev won the first three ATP Tour titles of his career in 2018. But the Russian didn’t slow his momentum, ascending into the Top 10 and the Top 5 in 2019.

Medvedev became the fifth active player — joining Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray — to reach six consecutive tour-level finals, achieving the feat at Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati, the US Open, St. Petersburg and Shanghai. The 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor reached more finals last season, with nine, than anyone on the ATP Tour.

Before 2019, Medvedev was only 8-14 at ATP Masters 1000 events. But he reached his first final at that level in Montreal and won his first two Masters 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai. Medvedev used those efforts to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, just two years on from finishing year-end World No. 65 in 2018.

2) Medvedev’s Switch: Fewer Croissants, More Porridge
Medvedev never shied away from admitting that before his rise, he did not do everything as professionally as possible. He competed hard and did his work on the practice court, but his diet and recovery routines were not as sharp as he knew they could be.

Sweets and even croissants were not off limits. If a long match went late, he would skip the ice bath.

“I thought it was going to be the best rest, to just lay on the bed and watch some TV. And in fact, it’s not,” Medvedev said.

But Medvedev slowly began trading some of those croissants for porridge, and giving everything he had in all facets of his career. That paid dividends.

Medvedev’s New Plan: Fewer Croissants, More Porridge

3) He Has A Golden Rule
Medvedev remembers the coach he had from ages six to 10, who taught him to, “fight like crazy”.

“Her Golden Rule was, ‘The one who wins the match is the one who made more balls over the net’, which is easy to understand,” Medvedev said last year.

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The 6’6” Russian moves well for his size, and he precisely manouevres his flat groundstrokes seemingly anywhere on the court he desires while making few errors, frustrating opponents.

4) Medvedev Speaks Fluent French, Resides In Monte-Carlo
Medvedev moved to Cannes, France as a teen, looking for high-quality coaching and facilities. He chose Cannes, since his sister lived there. Gilles Cervara, the Coach Of The Year in the 2019 ATP Awards, was not his full-time coach at first, but he accompanied Medvedev to Marseille in 2015 and a handful of events the following year, becoming the Russian’s permanent coach in late 2017.

It’s normal to hear the duo conversing in French. Medvedev, who also speaks Russian and English, now resides in nearby Monte-Carlo.

5) He Loves Video Games, But Doesn’t Bring Them To Tournaments
Medvedev has long enjoyed video games, and he enjoys thinking back to the times he has beaten his coach, Cervara, at them.

“It was in Basel, they had PlayStations there. I’m quite good in FIFA, so when you have a different level in the game, it’s not funny,” Medvedev recalled in Cincinnati last year. “NHL we never played in our life. So we started playing. I beat him silly because I’m good at games. And then he was practising all the week, and after I lost to Roger, [I was] 2-0 down [against my coach], and I won in overtime.”

As much as Medvedev has fun playing video games, he doesn’t let them take away from his focus on court.

“I love video games, and I basically don’t take them to the tournaments because I know otherwise I wouldn’t be having all these results, because I go crazy and I play too much,” Medvedev said. “But when I’m at home, don’t take my PlayStation. It’s not going to end well.”

Craig Boynton has worked with a variety of players throughout his career, from former World No. 1 Jim Courier to John Isner, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson and more. Last season, Boynton began coaching 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Hubert Hurkacz at the BNP Paribas Open.

Boynton spoke to ATPTour.com about what working with Hurkacz has been like, how much the Pole needs to (or doesn’t need to) change his game, and more.

Last year you began working with Hubert during the season, so if it did, how did your approach change during the off-season?
The mindset is always the same. It’s to help the player grow and improve. There are always different times in a tennis player’s career when the learning curve is steeper than at other times. The mindset that I have is always the better you are, the more you need to know. And so coming into this year, this off-season, I had a pretty clear idea of the things I wanted to work on with him on the court.

I think Hubi is working through part of that learning curve and dealing with how to be a professional tennis player day-in and day-out at the highest level. That’s just something that every tennis player takes a little bit of time to really work through and understand. I think he’s at that point, and I think he’s doing a great job with it.

What’s the biggest difference in his game between when you two first started and now?
I think his understanding of things has improved. That doesn’t always necessarily translate into better performance yet, but it’s really difficult when athletes have questions and don’t have the answers. Now Hubi is starting to get the answers. It takes a bit of the time to get the answers and then implement the changes and then you implement the changes and you go forward. Then you play [tournaments] and you run into, “What do I need to learn now?”

You take anybody for example and you see their path and it’s just constantly up, but there are periods where they regress a little bit. Let’s just say that’s the universe saying, “you need to learn something and take some time and learn it.” His learning curve is really good. He got through a lot of material really fast.

Hubi had a great start to the season results-wise at the ATP Cup and in Auckland, but then had a few tournaments where the results didn’t necessarily reflect that. So how did he take that, was he able to put things into context of improving?
He’s got a tremendous attitude. That’s not even really a question. It’s always: What happened? What was the good? What was not so good? What can be better? What are you dealing with now? He’s really good about that and we take it tournament to tournament.

Up until this point, we’ve had a pretty clear plan. He knows why things have gone well and he knows why things have not gone as well, and we’re just getting through that learning period, that implementing period, and then he’ll be playing great tennis and getting to a certain level.

I had this with John Isner. I remember when John got to No. 19 in the world, for eight months we just couldn’t get past No. 19. We’re working, we’re working, we’re working, and it took a bit of time and then bang, out of nowhere he shot up to the Top 10 quickly. He had gone backwards a little bit and he got to about No. 50 in the world, and then he won Newport and he was on his way. It just seemed like no matter what he did or what I did he just couldn’t break No. 19. That didn’t stop us from working hard and trying to figure out the issues. Once you get through that, then you’ve enhanced what you’re doing on the other side once you finally get through that.

Hubi is still young in his career, but how much of bridging that gap is technical work and how much of it is it something breaking his way for him to get confidence and take the next step?
I don’t think it’s as much technique. I look at other athletes and there are other athletes in other sports that you wouldn’t teach how they do it. Like a Reggie Miller, how he shot the basketball, or a Jim Furyk in golf… they’re just really good. I don’t think it’s a technical aspect. There are some things you can clean up, you can put your foot here on the serve instead of there. There are little things that can help, but it’s mostly committing to play the way that gives you the best chance to win.

It’s about staying committed during big matches or big tournaments and getting through those matches and getting through those tournaments. Then what you’ve done is created confidence and once you’ve created confidence, then things start to come your way and you expect things to come your way. You have an expectation when you walk on the court and you know that you’re going to play well. You walk into a locker room and you know, “I’ve got these guys under control if I stay committed.” But you always still go back to the court and try to clean something up a little bit.

I don’t think there’s a big on-off switch to someone’s forehand that’s on off. I think it’s just confidence and timing. If you’ve gotten to the Top 50 or Top 30, that’s really difficult to do. It’s difficult to do that if you’ve got something that’s just so technically unsound. You just can’t beat these top guys and you can’t beat guys in the Top 20 or 30 if you’re just not good.

Hubi in the past year has beaten those top guys and made a pretty seamless climb in a quick amount of time, so what are you most pleased with?
I’m not displeased with anything, so I would say just that he’s willing to go through this journey with open arms and an open heart and willing to just do whatever it takes. That’s really what I admire about him the most: that he just wants to do whatever it takes, work as hard as we need to work, drill as many drills as we have to drill, travel to as many tournaments as we have to travel to just to maximise his abilities and try to win some really big tournaments. That’s the thing that’s most pleasing to me.

The work and improvements here and there are great, but his willingness to want to come back the next day after something bad happens with a good attitude and that he is willing to work and willing to be coached, that is what I admire the most.

You see someone like Daniil Medvedev who admitted to making fairly substantial changes that led to his rapid rise. Has Hubi had to do anything major?
The benefit of what I have with him is he’s a professional. I never have to doubt whether he’s going to make the right decision… he just needs to learn. Everyone feels comfortable at the top at a certain rate. Medvedev was a tough out at No. 70 and No. 50, a very tough out. Then you can sort of see him start to figure things out and put things together. He beat Steve [Johnson, whom Boynton used to coach] in the final of Winston-Salem and Stevie didn’t play poorly.

He was comfortable moving forward. He had that confidence, he had that expectation. He was like, “Okay, I know what I need to do, I know I need to play [a certain way]”, and he was comfortable doing that. It took him a bit of time to figure that out, and with these younger players, that’s what you see.

The step back might be a little bit, it might be a lot. You look at Kyle Edmund, he made the semi-finals of the Australian Open and kind of took a step back. You see a mini step back here and there from Felix [Auger-Aliassime], and then he puts up a couple of good results. It happens, it happens to everyone. We’re all human. We have to feel comfortable in our own skin.

Just imagine how comfortable Novak, Rafa and Roger feel at No. 1 in the world. That’s a pretty daunting ask, but it’s taken them a long time to get like that. Novak was No. 3 in the world and he didn’t look that comfortable at No. 3 in the world way back when. He fixed his diet, he committed, and history is being made. Everyone goes at their own rate. Everyone has their own different personal issues or details that they need to clean up that is their own.

The 2020 ATP Tour season has already witnessed a number of standout performances from #NextGenATP stars. From Felix Auger-Aliassime to Jurij Rodionov, ATPTour.com takes a look at the 21-and-under players who have hit the headlines already this year:

Felix On Fire
With a 13-9 record so far in 2020, Felix Auger-Aliassime is setting an example for fellow #NextGenATP players. The 19-year-old Canadian has produced a number of impressive performances after a breakthrough 2019 campaign.

After reaching his first semi-final of the season in Adelaide, Auger-Aliassime found his best form on the indoor hard courts in Europe. The Montreal-born star advanced to his second ATP 500 final at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam with wins against Jan-Lennard Struff, Grigor Dimitrov, Aljaz Bedene and Pablo Carreno Busta.

Despite falling short of a first ATP Tour title against Gael Monfils, Auger-Aliassime saved match points in back-to-back matches in Marseille en route to his second final in as many weeks.

Wild Week
Thiago Seyboth Wild entered the final week of the Golden Swing with just two tour-level victories to his name, but a lot can change in a week on the ATP Tour. The 19-year-old Brazilian defeated three Argentinian opponents, including Juan Ignacio Londero, en route to his maiden tour-level final at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago.

In the championship match, the Brazilian stunned Buenos Aires titlist and 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Casper Ruud to become the youngest player from his nation to claim an ATP Tour crown. Seyboth Wild is the only #NextGenATP player to have captured an ATP Tour title this year. 

Miomir Makes Solid Start
Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist Miomir Kecmanovic has enjoyed a consistent start to his 2020 campaign. The Serbian, who fell to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in Milan last year, has reached two semi-finals on the ATP Tour already this season.

Kecmanovic won his opening six sets of 2020, earning victories against Jordan Thompson, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marton Fucsovics to advance to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open semi-finals. The Belgrade native matched that run in February, beating ASB Classic winner and 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Ugo Humbert to reach the last four at the New York Open.

Shapovalov Strikes Early
Denis Shapovalov opened the year in great form, securing two Top 10 wins at the inaugural ATP Cup. The Canadian scored straight-sets wins against World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas and World No. 7 Alexander Zverev en route to the quarter-finals, where he pushed Novak Djokovic to a final-set tie-break. As a result of his performances in Brisbane and Sydney, Shapovalov rose to a career-high No. 13 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on 13 January.

Rodionov Rises To The Challenge
Jurij Rodionov’s form on the ATP Challenger Tour has earned the Austrian a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking. The 6’3” left-hander, under the guidance of new touring coach Javier Frana, claimed 15 wins from 17 matches during a four-week period to earn titles in Dallas and Morelos. From 3 February to 2 March, the Austrian rose from No. 362 to No. 168 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Finalists Finding Form
Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner, who reached a career-high No. 68 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on 17 February, claimed his first Top 10 victory against David Goffin at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Two-time runner-up De Minaur began the year with Top 15 wins against Zverev and Shapovalov at the ATP Cup, but was forced to miss the following six weeks of the ATP Tour due to an abdominal injury.

Nakashima Rising
Brandon Nakashima has caught the attention of many American tennis fans this year. The 18-year-old, who picked up an ITF title in Rancho Santa Fe in January, beat Pune champion Jiri Vesely and Cameron Norrie to reach his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com in February. Nakashima maintained his form in his next event, dropping only one set to reach the semi-finals at the Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells.

Are you stuck for something to do at home, during the COVID-19 pandemic? If the answer is yes, you can settle down today and watch the longest match in tennis history on Wimbledon’s YouTube channel…

John Isner met Nicolas Mahut over three days during 2010 Wimbledon, with the American winning the first-round encounter 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(9), 7-6(3), 70-68 over 11 hours and five minutes. The final set alone lasted eight hours and 11 minutes.

Frances Tiafoe is currently at home, but he’s finding plenty of ways to stay entertained.

The American took part in the ATP Tour #TennisAtHome campaign by showing fans how he’s having fun while practising social distancing. His girlfriend, Ayan, and brother, Franklin, are also staying with him.

Tiafoe is using this time to stay in touch with fellow players like Tommy Paul and even found a unique way to simulate match play. He recorded a spot-on impersonation of Nick Kyrgios’ underarm serve during his match with Franklin.

This is pretty good ?

Who’s @FTiafoe impersonating? ?#tennisathome ?? pic.twitter.com/e0AvdTi0bf

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 20, 2020

Be a part of the trend. Share what you’re doing using #TennisAtHome and tag @ATPTour.

The AELTC can confirm that it is continuing a detailed evaluation of all scenarios for The Championships 2020, including postponement and cancellation, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The AELTC has been contingency planning since January, working closely with the UK government and public health authorities to follow their advice and understand the likely impact of COVID-19 and the government’s emergency measures on The Championships, and our thoughts are with all those affected by this crisis at this time.

An emergency meeting of the AELTC Main Board is scheduled for next week, and in preparation we are communicating closely with the LTA, and with the ATP, WTA, ITF and the other Grand Slams. The build for The Championships is due to begin at the end of April.

At this time, based on the advice we have received from the public health authorities, the very short window available to us to stage The Championships due to the nature of our surface suggests that postponement is not without significant risk and difficulty. Playing behind closed doors has been formally ruled out.

Following the government’s advice, the AELTC’s sites at the All England Club, Wimbledon Park Golf Club and Raynes Park are currently closed with physical operations reduced to the practical minimum to maintain the grass courts and the security of the sites.

The AELTC, through our charity the Wimbledon Foundation, is offering support within our local communities and more broadly for the London and UK population through our partnerships with the British Red Cross and City Harvest.

Richard Lewis CBE, AELTC Chief Executive, commented: “The unprecedented challenge presented by the COVID-19 crisis continues to affect our way of life in ways that we could not have imagined, and our thoughts are with all those affected in the UK and around the world. The single most important consideration is one of public health, and we are determined to act responsibly through the decisions we make. We are working hard to bring certainty to our plans for 2020 and have convened an emergency meeting of the AELTC Main Board for next week, at which a decision will be made.”

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, many of us now have far more time on our hands to cook from home. And now, following reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner’s Instagram announcement, we can use that time to help fight the spread of the virus.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Mentre siamo tutti a casa in isolamento, ho pensato che potesse essere il momento giusto per lanciare una piccola sfida di donazione per il nostro paese ?? Io e la mia agenzia di gestione @starwingsports doneremo forniture mediche di vitale importanza per aiutare l’Italia in questo momento difficile a causa di COVID -19. Ogni foto che caricherete di un sosia di Pizza di me stesso o di una figura italiana del passato o del presente, doneremo 10 €. Carica una foto della tua pizza fatta in casa usando #SinnerPizzaChallenge per sensibilizzare e spero ispirare gli altri a donare come possono per aiutarci tutti a superare questo. Ps se desideri partecipare anche tu alla donazione sentiti libero di farlo usando È importante rimanere uniti in questi momenti di bisogno ❤️ Non vedo l’ora di vedere le tue foto! – Whilst we’re all home in confinement I thought it could be appropriate time to throw a little donation challenge for our country ?? Myself & my management agency @starwingsports are going to donate vital medical supplies to help Italy through this tough time due to COVID-19. Every photo you guys upload of a Pizza lookalike of myself or any italian figure from the past or present we will donate 10€. Upload a photo of your homemade pizza using #SinnerPizzaChallenge to build awareness and hopefully inspire others to donate as they can in order to help us all get through this. Ps if you wish to donate as well feel free to do so using the link in my bio. It is important we stick together in these times of need ❤️ I look forward to seeing your photos! #ForItaly #LetsStickTogether #StaySafe #VivaItalia #TannisAtHome @atptour

A post shared by Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) on Mar 25, 2020 at 5:25am PDT

The Italian shared the news on Wednesday that he will donate €10 alongside his management company Starwing Sports for every photo he receives of a pizza that resembles himself or any past or present Italian figure. The money raised will be used to fund vital medical supplies in Italy during the pandemic.

Upload a photo of your pizza lookalike on Instagram using #SinnerPizzaChallenge. You can also donate here.

After spending six months away from the ATP Tour in 2016 to recover from knee surgery, Roger Federer made a stunning return to action in 2017.

The Swiss turned back the clock in his return event at the Australian Open, beating Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal in back-to-back five-set classics to capture his first Grand Slam trophy since 2012 Wimbledon and rode the momentum into the ‘Sunshine Double’ events of Indian Wells and Miami.

Watch Full Match Replay of Federer v Kyrgios at TennisTV.com

After taking the title in the Californian desert, Federer arrived in Miami with a third trophy of the year in sight and the early signs were encouraging. The 18-time Grand Slam champion moved past Frances Tiafoe, Juan Martin del Potro and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals and saved two match points against Tomas Berdych in a final-set tie-break to reach the last four. It left just one man standing between him and a place in the final. A man he had yet to beat.

That man was Aussie sensation Nick Kyrgios. The 21-year-old Canberra native had defeated Federer in three tie-break sets to win their maiden ATP Head2Head encounter almost two years prior at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open. The pair were due to meet two weeks earlier in Indian Wells, until food poisoning forced Kyrgios to withdraw from their quarter-final clash. Luckily for tennis fans around the world, nothing got in the way of a rivalry-defining classic in Miami.

In a fascinating showcase of attacking tennis, Federer and Kyrgios produced the 2017 ATP Match of the Year. Federer saved set points and Kyrgios saved match points, but it was the Swiss who ultimately claimed his place in the final with a 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) triumph after three hours and 11 minutes.

“It did feel very good, because you don’t very often play three tie-breaks in a match. It’s nice to win those and winning tie-breaks is always such a thrill,” said Federer. “It’s great winning this way, especially because I remember the loss against him a few years ago. It was rough. It was the birthday of my boys. I wasn’t with them and had that match, so it was nice to get this one tonight.”

A standing-room only crowd came out to Crandon Park to watch two of the most exciting players on the ATP Tour do battle, and they weren’t shy about letting their feelings be known. Whether it was giving a standing ovation for a between-the-legs winner from Kyrgios or chanting Roger’s name, their enthusiasm prompted the umpire to call for quiet on multiple occasions during the match.

After failing to convert three set points, Federer trusted his backhand and held his nerve in the tie-break to save set points at 7/8 and 8/9. The Aussie’s penchant for going for broke at crucial moments of the match may have cost him the opening set. He rolled the dice on a big second serve at 9/9 and missed badly, handing Federer a third set point. The Swiss star made good on his chance, wrapping up the set as Kyrgios sent a backhand into the doubles alley.

The drama remained at maximum level in the second-set tie-break, as Federer committed errors on two match points. Kyrgios wouldn’t allow Federer another opportunity, firing an ace at 10/9 and looking to his box in celebration after forcing a decider.

A sixth straight tie-break followed for Federer and Kyrgios, with the crowd on their feet to applaud the efforts of both players. Kyrgios didn’t learn his lesson from the first set, gambling with a 128 mph second serve at 5/5 and ultimately hitting a double fault for his most costly shot of the night. Kyrgios’ risk proved to be Federer’s reward, with the 35-year-old firing a big first serve to complete the win.

“I showed a lot of fight,” said Kyrgios. “Obviously I’m an emotional guy. I had some ups and downs, a bit of a roller coaster, but ultimately I think I put in a good performance.”

After winning back-to-back third-set tie-breaks in the same tournament for the third time in his career (2005 Dubai, 2001 Rome), Federer claimed his third ‘Sunshine Double’ with a straight sets victory against Rafael Nadal in the championship match.

Since leaving the court in Miami, Federer has triumphed in three further final-set tie-breaks against Kyrgios and now owns a 6-1 ATP Head2Head record against the Aussie. The pair’s second encounter will be remembered for many reasons, but perhaps most of all as the moment when two men cemented an exciting new ATP Tour rivalry and Federer turned it in his favour.

View Federer And Kyrgios’ ATP Head2Head Rivalry