Medvedev reflects on trophyless 2024: “6 and a half out of 10 season”

Daniil Medvedev was knocked out of semi-final contention at the Nitto ATP Finals after a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Jannik Sinner which put an end to a somewhat frustrating season for the Russian.

The former world No 1 started the season with a remarkable run to the Australian Open final, losing a lung-busting five-setter vs the Italian from two-sets-to-love up. From there, he made the Indian Wells final, losing out to Carlos Alcaraz, and a Miami Masters semi-final loss to Jannik Sinner. From there until the ATP Finals, Medvedev only made two semifinals; one at Wimbledon, and one at the Beijing Open. It should be noted that, throughout the season, it was visible that the Russian was dealing with shoulder pain – mainly impacting his serve

Overall, 2024 marks his first season without a title since 2017 – when he had zero career titles.

After his round-robin match v Sinner, the Russian stated:

“Yeah, Jannik plays good. He’s in full confidence right now. I watched his practice before the match. Barely misses a shot and he hits strong. Many times a lot of players that don’t miss a lot, at least they don’t hit strong. He can hit strong, very strong, probably one of maybe top three, four, five hitters on tour, and doesn’t miss.

It is tough to play him. He puts you under pressure. You have to deal with it. In a way I didn’t deal with it well enough. Like, I missed some shots in some important moments. He won the match. Basically kind of easy as that.”

It is tough to play him. He puts you under pressure. You have to deal with it.

The one-time Grand Slam champion was asked to rate his 2024 season:

“Probably I finish No. 4 in the world unless Taylor pulls a big upset, which is amazing. Why I need to say it? It’s amazing. In the sport that is that demanding with so many players, I want to be No. 1 in the world, but I didn’t play well enough this year, by far, to be No. 1 in the world. Jannik is playing much better. He proved it many times. But I’m No. 4 in the big tennis world. I’m super proud about that because, as I said, especially in the end of the year, I struggled throughout the whole year. Every practice, every match was a struggle for me. A lot of matches.

“Before I would feel I had the edge on the opponent and win it easy. Now I needed to win three sets, tie-breaks, breaks in the end of the set, et cetera.

I would put it somewhere on six and a half out of 10, which a lot of work to do to be better, but still a lot of good memories also. Yeah, I’m looking forward for next season already.”

I would put it somewhere on six and a half out of 10, which a lot of work to do to be better

Looking ahead to 2025, after trophyless 2024

Medvedev was also asked if he would make any changes during the pre-season, and his opinion on not managing to win a title during the last 12 months:

“In the team, no (changes). But in the preparation, for sure we’re going to try to I think really build something a little bit new. I see right now that it’s not good enough, especially against guys like Jannik and Carlos. I’m not sure I will be able to become better, but I will try. I will try to become better in some parts. Again, I feel like if we talk purely tactic, I feel like I played fine. It’s just execution. You need to not miss, go, go, go for it. I didn’t manage to do it. That’s what we’re going to work a lot in pre-season, to build a little bit better version of myself, which is not easy when you’re 28 years old.

“Yeah, about titles… I’m not that concerned. As I say, every tournament is tough to win, but I could have gotten some different tournaments. I basically played three 500s this year and all the rest was Masters and Grand Slams. Of course, I want to win Masters and Grand Slams more than other tournaments. But maybe go to another tournament and win it. You never know.

In general, I had some very good runs and some very bad tournaments. It’s okay for me.”

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