Medvedev admits his greatest fear: "What if I couldn't play like before anymore?"
2025 will remain a dark year for Daniil Medvedev.
Eliminated three times in the first round of Grand Slams—Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, US Open—and swept away in the second round at the Australian Open, the Russian experienced a bewildering sporting spiral.
To this was added a symbolic break: the end of his long collaboration with Gilles Cervara, replaced by Thomas Johansson.
Result: a season concluded at 13th place in the world and without qualification for the ATP Finals: a situation unworthy of his status.
But behind the numbers lay a deeper unease: a player in the midst of existential doubt.
"What if I couldn't do it?": Medvedev shares the fear that haunted him
In an interview for "Bolshe", Medvedev revealed himself with moving sincerity:
"I had a moment of doubt this year... What if I couldn't do it? I'm already 29... What if I couldn't play like before anymore?"
For the first time in his career, the 2021 US Open champion considered the scenario he feared: no longer being able to compete with the best.
The turning point from nowhere: "In training, I was playing too well"
After a disastrous US Open, Medvedev found a semblance of form in Asia. And his training sessions in Monaco were an electroshock:
"I was playing so well that, very probably, no one except Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz could have beaten me."
It was this feeling, that of still being capable of touching excellence, that made his fears disappear, or at least some of them, by the end of the year.
In Almaty, Medvedev finally captured a title, his first ATP since Rome 2023. A modest victory, but essential, like a new breath in a complicated season.
