Danil Medvedev has made history becoming the first player to beat the top three players in a single edition of the ATP Finals. The Russian player beat five-time ATP Finals champion Novak Djokovic in the round robin, Rafael Nadal in three sets semifinal and Dominic Thiem in a 3-set match after 2 hours and 42 minutes.
“It’s amazing to beat the top 3 here. In the group I beat Novak, then Rafa in the semifinals and Dominic in the final. The best players in the world. It means a lot. It shows what I am capable of when I am playing good, when I am feeling good mentally, physically. I know what I am capable of. I just need to produce it more and more and hopefully more matches like this“, said Medvedev to the ATP Tour Website.
The Russian player is only the fourth player to achieve this feat at any single tournament since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990 following in the footsteps of Boris Becker in Stockolm in 1994, Novak Djokovic in Montreal in 2007, David Nalbandian in Madrid in 2007.
“It was the toughest victory in my life because Dominic Thiem is a really tough player to play. That’s what I felt during the match. He was really close to winning in the second set. I managed to stay there. I managed to stay there. I felt in the third set that I was really tired physically, but I felt like he started to miss some balls, he started to run a little bit slower because he was tired. To make Dominic feel tired in a three-set match, not a five-set, I think it’s a great achievement. Dominic is playing today as one of the best players in the history of the sport, not yet by the titles and Grand Slams, but, as I say, playing with the form of today”, said Medvedev.
With his win over Thiem in last Sunday’s final Medvedev has improved his winning streak to ten matches, that includes the two back-to-back titles in Paris Bercy Rolex Masters and the ATP Finals. He entered the Paris Bercy Masters 1000 tournament with a 18-10 win-loss record against top 10 opponents. Since the start of the Paris Bercy tournament Medvedev has scored seven matches against top 10 players.
Medvedev followed in the footsteps of his idol Nikolay Davydenko, who won the first London edition of the ATP Finals. Medvedev ended the last chapter of the ATP Finals in London in the same way the tournament story started at the O2 Arena eleven years ago.
“I was so surprised and so happy because Davydenko was one of my idols when I was growing up as I was actually already starting to play tennis. He was playing unbelievably”.
The 24-year-old Russian player is the fifth player to win both the Paris Bercy and the ATP Finals titles in the same year after Boris Becker in 1992, Pete Sampras in 1997, Roger Federer in 2011, Novak Djokovic in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Medvedev advanced to the Australian Open fourth round for the second consecutive year before losing to Stan Wawrinka in five sets. The Russian star did not drop a set en route to his second consecutive semifinal at the US Open last September before losing to Dominic Thiem, but he entered the Paris Bercy tournament with just three wins from his past eight matches and was bidding to win his first title in 13 months.
“The tournaments I played before Paris were not bad. I was playing good tennis. I lost to Reilly Opelka in St. Petersburg. The same in Vienna. I was playing against Kevin Anderson, who is a tough opponent. I knew that my level might come back but maybe not this year. Finally, it was the case in Paris. I started playing better, started playing amazing. When you have this sort of confidence, you just need to know how to keep it. I know how to do it, especially looking back at last year where I reached six finals in a row. So now the question is how to find it faster sometimes. My level of game in the last two matches I won was just unbelievable. It can give me a lot for my future career. To beat Dominic the way he played today and to manage to beat him is probably the best victory of my life. This is a great boost of confidence for all the Slams coming up and all the tournaments. Hopefully I can continue this way”, concluded Medvedev.
Medvedev has been ranked in top 5 each week since 19 August 2019. Medvedev, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev became the first Russian trio in top 15 in the ATP Ranking since 1973.
