He's no longer intimidating, I think we need to forget his peak era," Julien Varlet's assessment of Medvedev's season

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Jules Hypolite

le 01/08/2025 à 19h27

1 min to read

Medvedev Toronto

Daniil Medvedev was eliminated in the third round of the Toronto Masters 1000 by defending champion Alexei Popyrin.

The Russian, whose best result this year was a final in Halle, hasn’t won a title on the tour in over two years. This drought is also reflected in disappointing Grand Slam performances, with a second-round exit at the Australian Open and first-round losses at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.

On the show *Sans Filet*, former player Julien Varlet shared his thoughts on the Russian, now ranked 14th in the world:

"Medvedev is stagnating—it’s even borderline regression. He’s no longer intimidating, and he doesn’t hurt opponents. When you’re in doubt, two things help you stay competitive. First, your physicality. But he’s given so much that it’s starting to get complicated. And then there’s technique, but that’s not where he excels.

So, as soon as he’s in doubt, he automatically plays worse. Even in 2019, during that brilliant stretch of his season, he wasn’t strong in the short game, his volleys weren’t great. And he hasn’t improved. As much as I love him, I think we need to forget the Daniil Medvedev era.