Medvedev: ‘Best Start To A Season I’ve Ever Had’

Daniil Medvedev is a former World No. 1, a Grand Slam champion and now a five-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist. For all his accolades, he may never have had a better stretch than the one he is currently on. His maiden trophy triumph at the Miami Open presented by Itau improved his 2023 record to 29-3 and earned him his fourth trophy in his past five events.

“It’s the best start of the season I have ever had. Amazing amount of points won,” said Medvedev, who now enjoys a 600 point lead over Novak Djokovic in the calendar-year Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

“I think 2019 was great also with six finals and it was also new for me in 2019. So I think it’s kind of the same,” he also said. 

Medvedev won four titles in his breakout 2019 season and matched that tally in 2021. Just over three months into 2023, he has already equalled that mark with his 7-5, 6-3 victory against Jannik Sinner on Sunday, with plenty of time to add to it.

The 27-year-old was particularly happy that his recent run has come at events across the world, with all different hard-court conditions: He won titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami and reached the final in Indian Wells.

Medvedev has now won five of the six hard-court ATP Masters 1000s, in addition to his runner-up finish last month in Indian Wells. He’s also won the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals title and the 2021 US Open crown in addition to his consecutive Australian Open final runs in 2021 and 2022.

Medvedev’s ATP Masters 1000 Titles

Speaking in his post-match press-conference, the self-defined hard-court specialist explained why he is so comfortable on the surface.

“Generally I love hard courts. I love playing on it. If it would be my choice, it would be only hard courts, but I completely understand that that’s not fair, if we can say like this.

“I feel the best at my game on hard courts. Even if I know that I can play well enough on the grass and clay, on hard courts I feel the most fluid. On hard courts I can play not my best tennis but still win the matches. That’s a big difference.”

While Medvedev’s 29 tour-level wins this season pace the ATP Tour, his competitors can only hope the upcoming transition to clay courts cools off the soon-to-be World No. 4.

“Now clay season starts so we’ll see how you do there,” Sinner teased during his runner-up speech. “But I wish you all the best.”