Daniil Medvedev will be searching for revenge at the 2025 Australian Open after losing the title the previous year. Last January, Medvedev led Jannik Sinner by two sets until the Italian rallied from behind to win his maiden Grand Slam triumph. The Russian has lost three Australian Open finals in his career, as well as two at the US Open. Medvedev did, however, win a Grand Slam at the 2021 US Open.
He has previously led the ATP Tour standings. However, the 28-year-old has now dropped to sixth place, with Medvedev failing to win a tour-level trophy in 2024. Spencer Segura, Jimmy Connors’ doubles partner, has undoubtedly seen his alarming run of form. In 2024, he was eighth in terms of ATP Tour return rating (156.5) and percentage of second-serve return points won (52.8%).
His 44% break-point conversion rate ranks second only to Alex de Minaur’s 45.1%. Medvedev is clearly at risk of sliding further behind current stars like Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. But he does have one advantage over the young pair: experience, which should help the Russian when things go rough, as they will when he goes deep into major tournaments.
Medvedev’s Style Criticized
Daniil Medvedev’s brilliant career should also serve as a reminder that he has been there and done it all before, as the 28-year-old has 20 ATP Tour titles. Worryingly, 2024 marked his first season without a title after winning at least one per year since 2018. A change in style may be required for the world number five to return to winning ways in 2025.
Medvedev’s season ended on a dismal note, as he failed to advance beyond the group stages of the ATP Finals. Segura said on the Advantage Connors podcast, “Medvedev is a perplexing guy to me. Why does he play wrong all the time? That guy, what kind of athlete is he at his height? He refuses to come in on the return of the second serve off of anybody on the baseline, he will not do it.”
