The tradition of playing warm-up tournaments before a Grand Slam is one that Dannil Medvedev will not be doing for the first time in his career next year.
The world No.3 has confirmed that he doesn’t intend to play another tournament until the Australian Open following his semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals on Saturday. Medvedev had always played at least one event heading into the first major of the season since making his Melbourne Park debut back in 2017.
“I haven’t been on an off-season vacation as some players. One time I had the Davis Cup. Last year we (Medvedev and his wife) had a small baby, so I was straightaway back to the duties. This year we’re going to go with my wife to the islands. First time in maybe four, five years.” He told reporters in Turin.
“I’m probably going to play only the Australian Open. I’m going to have more of a vacation time than usual and start with a slam straightaway, which is going to be new for me.”
Medvedev’s desire for a longer off-season follows what he describes as a ‘hectic’ year on the Tour. Since January, the Russian has played in 22 ATP events across the world and has won 66 out of 84 matches. He has won titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and most recently Rome back in May. In the Grand Slams, he was runner-up at the US Open and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon.
“It was a great season. Some ups, some downs for sure,” Medvedev reflected.
“The big up was at the beginning of the season. I’m proud of myself because before Rotterdam I dropped out of the top 10. It was tough. Before Rotterdam in practice, I was feeling terrible. I couldn’t put the ball in the court. Then after that, everything went to the better. Titles, finals, stuff like this.’
“Generally, I’m happy with what I achieved this season. I’m going to try to learn from it and try to go for more in the next season because Sinner, Alcaraz, and Novak only play better and better. If you want to try to stay on the top, you have to improve non-stop.”
Sinner is turning out to be an Achilles heel for Medvedev in the sport. He has now lost to the Italian three times in a row after winning their first six meetings on the Tour. Sinner has beaten 10 top five players already this year and is currently on a 10-match winning streak.
As for what the future might have in store for the 22-year-old, Medvedev believes he can reach the very top of the sport if he maintains his consistency.
“He’s, let’s call it, riding a wave. You can see it. I generally believe if he plays like this, like he played the last few weeks, all the time, he’s going to have slams and the No. 1,” he said of Siner.
“The question is how often is he going to ride it? When he’s not on the wave, how good he plays. That’s the way tennis is. But at the moment he is very, very good.”
