Mumbai: Trust Daniil Medvedev to not be too far away from making his audience chuckle, even if it comes at his own expense.
This is the second sentence that the Russian came up with in the on-court chat after winning his first Grand Slam match in over a year: “Last year I lost almost everywhere (in the) first round… except here, actually.”
It was quintessential Medvedev – an unintentionally funny summarisation of a largely woeful 12 months, which began with the second-round defeat at last year’s Australian Open.
Medvedev is into the second round again at Melbourne Park, after a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) win over Dutchman Jesper de Jong on Monday. Even if the opening act didn’t have his A-game look – “hopefully I can be a bit more clinical in the next round,” he assessed – there appears to be a different feel around the former world No.1 and three-time Australian Open finalist this time.
Apart from being his (unintentionally) funny self with the words, he’s a lot more (intentionally) positive with his body language on court. The game has room to be “more clinical” as the days progress Down Under but the confidence is getting back up there, more so after having captured the tune-up ATP title in Brisbane.
A strong-again Medvedev can only make the current landscape of men’s tennis stronger. Amid the dominant Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly and the continued Djokovic dance of longevity, Medvedev is the link across the two generations to have battled and beaten the best of both at some point. His unfiltered personality and on-court antics, apart from a relatively different game style, also adds to the charm that the Slam stage missed the entire last season.
The 2021 US Open champion lost three back-to-back first rounds in majors and ended the season outside the top 10 for the first time since 2018. A second straight defeat to Benjamin Bonzi in a US Open meltdown appeared to be the final nail for Medvedev to hit the change button.
The Russian split with his long time coach Gilles Cervara and brought in a new coaching setup of Thomas Johansson, the 2002 Australian Open champion, and Rohan Goetzke.
With a different team as a “breath of fresh air”, the winds of change were almost immediate. In his last six tournaments of 2025, Medvedev won the ATP 250 Almaty title and made two semis and quarters each. The 2026 season-opening Brisbane title was an extension of that.
After enduring a “tough” last year of “not feeling great in the mental plus tennis” side, a long pre-season helped revitalise the Russian.
“I’m feeling great with my new team,” said Medvedev after Monday’s win. “What happened last year happened, and it’s okay. It’s part of a career, part of life. I managed to finish the year (ranked) like, what, 12 or 13, which is, to be honest, great for many players.”
His dramatic verbal exchanges with those in his box would at times be as entertaining as the match itself. With the new team, however, Medvedev is consciously making a “big push to be more positive on court”. And a bit more aggressive in his game.
The lanky pro, known more for his defensive play from the baseline that can grind down opponents, believes it’s when he knows he is playing badly that his shots don’t go through the air.
“So, I become a bit more defensive,” he said. “When I’m playing good, I’m aggressive, especially on my serve. On the return, with my position, it’s a bit tougher to be aggressive. But once I hit a good spot, I try to step in. And that’s what I have been doing well this year.”
Medvedev is one of the few players to have beaten both Alcaraz and Sinner in Slams. And Djokovic, for a title no less. The 29-year-old has played “a lot of big names in tennis” to know that no one is unbeatable on a given day.
But for now, given his results of last year, he would have done well to even place himself in a position to take on a Sinner or Alcaraz in Australia.
“I didn’t even play them last year, they were always in the final,” said Medvedev, sprinkling some unintentional humour again.
