Daniil Medvedev will play his third tournament of the North American hard court swing in Cincinnati. He reached the quarterfinal of the Washington Open where he lost to lucky loser Corentin Moutet in three sets. In his next tournament, the Canadian Open, he lost to defending champion Alexei Popyrin in three sets.
The 29-year-old will commence his Cincinnati campaign against Australia’s Adam Walton. Medvedev, who won the Cincinnati Open in 2019, commented about the court conditions this year:
They change every year here, for example the last two years, they were completely different from, let’s say, five years ago. This year, they’re a bit slower than they were before, it seems. Maybe a little slower than Toronto. But overall, at least the practice courts, they are very nice.
Daniil Medvedev: "It feels like this year the courts in Cincinnati are a bit slower than before, probably a tiny bit slower than in Toronto, but they are nice courts, at least the practice courts are very pleasant to play on." pic.twitter.com/Xw2WAwXAzu
A hard court specialist, Medvedev has won 18 of his 20 ATP titles on this surface and has reached the finals of six hard court Grand Slams, winning one of them. There was a time not so long ago when the Russian emerged as the potential flag bearer of tennis for the new generation.
After being eclipsed early in his career by the late stages of the ‘Big Three’ era, he was the person who ended Novak Djokovic’s bid for a historic calendar-year Grand Slam in the 2021 US Open final. Six months onward he became the first player since 2004 other than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray to reach the World No. 1 ATP Rankings.
However, Medvedev is now facing a title drought of two years. He has also not progressed beyond the second round of any Grand Slam this year. Two months ago at the Halle Open, Medvedev reached his first final since a year.
Daniil Medvedev speaks about the changes this year at Cincinnati Open
As part of a $260 million investment into the future of the Cincinnati Open, organizers renovated the venue ahead of the tournament this year. These changes include reimagined stadiums, park-like landscaping, a new 2,000-seat sunken stadium, and a brand new clubhouse.
With many appreciating the work done, Daniil Medvedev having criticized the slower courts, otherwise had ‘only good things’ to say about the Cincinnati Open:
I’ve always liked this tournament, even though it was a bit smaller, older, and so on. Now it’s even better. Great facilities, great conditions for players…
Daniil Medvedev (imagev via Getty)
The former World No. 1 further compared the tournament to the Shanghai Masters, another tournament which he won, back in 2019:
It’s very similar to Shanghai; Shanghai is also very big, and it really feels like that. If I remember correctly, Shanghai is sometimes considered the fifth Grand Slam or maybe Indian Wells too, but here, it’s probably even better than Indian Wells in terms of conditions.
In his upcoming opening round match, twelfth seed Medvedev will meet Adam Walton for the first time on court.
Daniil Medvedev’s difficult draw in Cincinnati
Daniil Medvedev will face a pretty tough draw in Cincinnati. Although he is expected to win his opening round match against Adam Walton, the path ahead will be quite difficult for the Russian. He is projected to face Jiri Lehecka after that. The Czech has a 2-1 head-to-head record over Medvedev, having won the last two meetings.
Daniil Medvedev (image via Getty)
If Medvedev wins the third round, he will potentially face reigning Canadian Open champion Ben Shelton in the fourth round. If he reaches the quarterfinal he might face Alexander Zverev over whom he has a four match winning streak. The semifinal and final would potentially mean a matchup with Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion Jannik Sinner respectively.
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