Former ATP pro urges Daniil Medvedev to ‘rethink’ as he claims off-season decision is reason behind the Russian’s poor form
Daniil Medvedev secured just two wins this season, losing his second-round matches at the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open.
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Daniil Medvedev (Image via X)
Daniil Medvedev chose not to play the warm-up events before the Australian Open and former World No.5 Jimmy Arias thinks this decision affected Medvedev’s form. The Russian suffered two straight second-round exits.
At the Australian Open, after a hard-fought win over Kasidit Samrej in the first round, Medvedev fell to 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Learner Tien. Then in Rotterdam too, the 2021 US Open champion struggled.
After fending off 39-year-old and three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, Medvedev fell to Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in three sets. This is the second time Medvedev lost in the second round of a tournament to a qualifier this year. As Medvedev chose not to play any warm-up events before the Australian Open, Arias urged him to rethink his strategies.
Do you know what Medvedev did this off-season in terms of his tennis preparation? Nothing. He said he stayed home with his family, he and his wife had their second child. He said he really didn’t pick up a racket for a month and he said he is never going to play a tune-up tournament again for the Australian Open. Maybe he needs to rethink that!
Jimmy Arias told Tennis Channel
His poor run of form has led to retirement rumors but Medvedev has made it clear that he hasn’t contemplated this yet. The former World No. 1 is currently standing in 7th position on the ATP rankings but if he’s dropped from the top 100, he said he then could think of retirement.
Medvedev is set to play the Qatar Open next, following which, he will play the Dubai Tennis Championships. Last year, he skipped the tournament in Doha but reached the semifinals in Dubai.
Mattia Bellucci registers biggest win of his career after beating Daniil Medvedev
Mattia Bellucci, the Italian qualifier, registered his first top-10 win when he beat Daniil Medvedev in the second round in Rotterdam. With a scoreline of 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, the 23-year-old, in two hours and 55 minutes, knocked out the 2023 Rotterdam Open champion.
I wanted to be myself and I saw him far back. I really think it is something I used to move him a little bit from there. I don’t want to be disrespectful. I felt that I had to enjoy every moment of this match. This is a big result so I will enjoy it.
Mattia Bellucci said during the on-court interview
Medvedev became the first-seeded player to get eliminated from this year’s Rotterdam Open. The win over the World No.7 helped Bellucci, the 92nd-ranked player move 16 places up in the ATP live rankings.
Bellucci will face Stefanos Tsitsipas next in the quarterfinals. Tsitsipas, the two-time Grand Slam finalist, overcame Tallon Griekspoor to reach his first quarterfinal of the season.
The Greek, at the Australian Open, suffered a shocking first-round exit with a four-set defeat to America’s Alex Michelsen. The upcoming match will be his first clash with Bellucci on the ATP Tour.
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Gouri Das
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