Daniil Medvedev, thirsty for ‘big title’, starts chase in Montreal | ATP Tour

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Medvedev, Aiming for ‘Big Title’, Starts Chasing in Montreal

The third seed will play either Davidovich Fokina or Safiullin in the second round.

August 5, 2024

During the 2024 season, much of the attention was on Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Sinner won his first major at the Australian Open and rose to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Alcaraz won Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and Djokovic won his first gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

But quietly Daniil Medvedev has had a solid season. The former world number one finished fourth at the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is entering one of his best seasons in history.

This year’s Australian Open finalist and Wimbledon semi-finalist, seeded third at the Omnium Banque National hosted by Rogers, will be looking to claim his first title of the year.

“The important thing about my season is that when I get to this stage in Canada, it doesn’t matter what happened before, because that’s usually the best part of the season for me,” Medvedev told ATPTour.com. “To be honest, I’m pretty satisfied with my season. There were some good results, some good runs, some really good wins. What I’m not satisfied with [with] In a sense, it doesn’t have a title, but I’m playing it [well at] “I went to the biggest tournament and lost to great players.”

It’s not like Medvedev hasn’t made deep runs in tournaments. The 28-year-old is 35-11 this season, according to the Infosys ATP Win-Lose Index, and has reached the finals in Melbourne and Indian Wells.

Medvedev will be confident knowing that Montreal is where he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 2019. That year, Medvedev enjoyed a memorable second half of the season, winning 29 of his 32 matches. It started in Washington, where he reached the final and then raced to Canada.

“I have to hurry, pack my bags, and prepare for the next day. I played against Kyle Edmund, who was doing very well at the time, and I knew that the first game would be difficult,” Medvedev said. “But I felt really good right away, and I beat him with an easy score. Everything went well, and I played pretty well.”

Medvedev did not lose a single set on his way to the final, defeating Edmund, Christian Garin, Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov. Of the eight sets he played against the four, only one was better than 6-3. His record ended in the title match against Rafael Nadal, who won 6-3, 6-0.

“I played against Rafa and unfortunately at the time he was too much for me and too strong,” Medvedev said. “I remember every match was different in some way, but I played great tennis and felt good about my game. And it was my first time in a Masters 1000 final, so my confidence was greatly boosted.”

When Medvedev arrived in Canada five years ago, he was ranked ninth in the PIF ATP rankings. By the end of that period, it was clear that he was on his way to the top, and he realized it when he looked back.

“100 percent. I knew I could do well before, but I didn’t do very well, and that was the stretch where I got to my first Masters 1000 final, won the next one in Cincinnati, got to the U.S. Open final. It was really great,” Medvedev said. “That was kind of the first tournament. With Washington, where I did well, where I learned more about what I need to do to beat the top guys on the court.”

Medvedev is excited to return to Montreal and the hard courts to begin his quest for a title. The third seed, who received a bye, will play doubles partner Roman Safiullin or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. For the 20-time tour-level title holder, this is the start of his efforts to end the season on a high note.

“I will definitely hold out until the end of the year. I will try to win a big title and get more points, because that is always important,” Medvedev said. “The higher the ranking at the end, the more it shows how good the season was. So I am quite satisfied with this season, but I definitely want more.”