Daniil Medvedev demands more of your attention

Rotterdam is one of the biggest ATP 500 events of the year, so it was no small feat that Daniil Medvedev ended up winning it and making his return to the Top 10 in the process. The Russian earned straight-set wins over world No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime and world No. 25 Grigor Dimitrov in Holland, and secured the title with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over world No. 12 Jannik Sinner. It was a statement run from the 27-year-old, who is out to remind everybody that he remains one of the sport’s elite players.

Sinner was scorching hot heading into the Rotterdam final, as the Italian exorcised his own personal demons by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Round of 16. Tsitsipas had previously won four matches in a row against Sinner, who changed his coaching staff as a direct result of a lopsided loss to the Greek star during the 2022 season. Sinner was also coming off his first title of the 2023 season, in Montpellier. With that said, this was a tough match-up for Medvedev, who took his game to another level to come through in three sets.

In the first set, Sinner’s aggressive nature from the baseline allowed the 21-year-old to move within one set of earning back-to-back titles. Medvedev was allowing Sinner to dictate play with his powerful strokes from both sides, and it was clear early on that the Russian wouldn’t be able to coast to a win relying only on a reliable serve and his all-world defense. That’s the way Medvedev has won matches in the past, and there’s no denying that it’s his preferred style of play—and one that clearly gives him a very high floor. But people have been clamoring for Medvedev to be up on his front foot a little more often, and we saw exactly what that looked like in the final two sets.

Rather than simply trying to redirect Sinner’s pace, Medvedev started to swing bigger from the start of the second set. He was hitting his groundstrokes with a little more purpose, forcing Sinner to be the one to move side to side. That coaxed a few more mistakes out of the Italian, and it also tired him out by the time the third set rolled around.

All in all, it was breathtaking to see Medvedev finding his peak form. He has consistently been a great player, but where exactly will he go from here? Since 2017, Medvedev is the only active player outside the Big Three to have won a Grand Slam title while having to go through a member of the Big Three along the way. Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to claim the 2021 US Open title—and it’d be disappointing if Medvedev doesn’t win another after having done so.

Whether Medvedev will make his way back to the top of the men’s game is unclear, but it is something that should probably be talked about a little more. The Grand Slam conversations typically revolve around Djokovic, Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, but Medvedev is a player that could factor into that mix if he makes some small tweaks to his game. And that win over an in-form version of Sinner saw him making the adjustments he needs to lock himself into tennis’ elite group of players for the long haul—and not just fade away after short spurts of excellent play.

[Rotterdam] was a statement run from the 27-year-old, who is out to remind everybody that he is remains one of the sport’s elite players.

Heading into the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, Medvedev is a player that should demand more of our attention. Over the last 12 months, Medvedev ranks 12th in the world in hold percentage (85.2%) and second in break percentage (30.3%). You’d be hard-pressed to find a player with a statistical profile quite like that. And Medvedev is now heading into the Sunshine Double with a much-needed confidence boost after having struggled to close out the 2022 season, and getting bounced in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open.

If Medvedev can show out in the two upcoming Masters 1000 events, a huge year could be on the horizon. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t quickly revert to old habits after the win over Sinner. Medvedev has praised some of his more aggressive opponents in the past, implying that he doesn’t have what it takes to consistently take an offensive approach himself. But everybody that has seen Medvedev play knows he has that gear. It’s just a matter of flipping the switch and finding the courage to be bolder.

If Medvedev does that, he should be able to add to his Grand Slam trophy case. If he doesn’t, he might go down as a one-hit wonder. That’s up to him, because the talent is there.