Medvedev had defeated Djokovic, Nadal and Dominic Thiem who occupied the top three spots in the world rankings, during the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals to mount a serious surge for glory.
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The top two spots in the world rankings have been dominated by only four names since 2005. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray were those players. However, 2021 witnessed a stunning development as a new star burst into contention, emerging as the only man barring those two to finish in the top two spots since 2005. Russian Daniil Medvedev represented the individual who had finally managed to achieve this unique milestone, in a massive achievement. Medvedev had defeated Djokovic, Nadal and Dominic Thiem who occupied the top three spots in the world rankings, during the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals to mount a serious surge for glory. The Russian became the first player to trump the top three players in the tournament’s history and on ATP Tour since 2007.
Medvedev is a force to reckon with on hard courts, having won 11 of his 12 singles titles on that surface. The same includes ATP Masters 1000 championships in 2019 Cincinnati, 2019 Shanghai, 2020 Paris and 2021 Toronto. One of the many significant performances which define Medvedev’s character would be the triumph against Nadal. The Spaniard served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but the Russian fought back brilliantly to win 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. Medvedev had never defeated Nadal before but showcased his prowess through a fine display of aggression and composure, as the latter slowly and steadily crumbled. The Russian enjoys strong character as evident from a statement by coach Gilles Cervara in an exclusive interaction with ATPTour.com.
“In matches, adversity makes him (Medvedev) find the best in himself. The match is the most important part to find his best and sometimes during practice, you cannot reach this level of adversity. Matches make these players better for sure. Daniil has a good mindset to keep focussing on what he has to do only,” said Cervara.
“When we play, we fight to win. When we play different things on the court, he wants to beat me and I feel if I beat him, it becomes important for him to play against me to beat me. He has this inside himself and I think it’s very, very important to be a top-level player. If you don’t have this, it could be tough. It saves your life when you’re in trouble,” he added.
Tennis instructor Gilles Cervara is from France. He has been a coach since 2007, and since the summer of 2017, he has worked exclusively with Daniil Medvedev, guiding him to fourteen ATP Tour singles victories and a career-high World No. 1 ranking. Prior to this, Cervara worked as a hitting partner for well-known athletes like Thomas Enqvist, Justine Henin, and Marat Safin. Cervara received the 2019 ATP Awards Coach of the Year nomination from his peers. He was nominated for the prize again in 2020 and 2021, but Fernando Vicente and Facundo Lugones ultimately won the prizes.
