Medvedev hungry for a 'big title', to begin his chase in Montreal

A lot of the attention during the 2024 season has gone to Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Sinner won his first major at the Australian Open and completed his ascent to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Alcaraz triumphed at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and Djokovic just earned his maiden gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

But quietly, Daniil Medvedev has enjoyed a consistent season. The former World No. 1 is fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is now entering the part of the season that has historically been when he performs best.

Seeded third at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers, this year’s Australian Open finalist and Wimbledon semi-finalist will try to claim his first title of the year.

“I think the thing always about my seasons is that a lot of times when I come to this stage, which is Canada, whatever happened before doesn't matter too much because that's really usually the best part of the season for me,” Medvedev told ATPTour.com. “So to be honest, I'm pretty happy with my season. I had some good results and good runs, some actually good wins. What I'm not happy [with] in a way is I don't have a title, but I'm playing [well at] the biggest tournaments and I lost to some great guys.”

It is not that Medvedev has failed to advance deep into tournaments. The 28-year-old is 35-11 for the season according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index and reached finals in Melbourne and Indian Wells.

Medvedev will take confidence knowing that Montreal is where he advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 2019. That year, Medvedev enjoyed a memorable second half of his season, winning 29 of 32 matches. It started in Washington, where he made the final before sprinting to Canada.

“You need to hustle, you need to pack. The next day you need to prepare the match already. I played Kyle Edmund who at the time was playing very well and I knew that the first match was not going to be easy,” Medvedev said. “But straightaway I felt really, really well and managed to beat him with an easy score. Everything just stuck together and I managed to play pretty well.”

Medvedev did not lose a set en route to the final, defeating Edmund, Cristian Garin, Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov. Only one of the eight sets he played against the quartet went past 6-3. His run ultimately came to an end in the title match against Rafael Nadal, who triumphed 6-3, 6-0.

“I played Rafa and unfortunately at the time it was way too much for me and way too strong,” Medvedev said. “I do remember every match was different in a way but I was playing great tennis and feeling great in my game and it was the first time I made it to the final of a Masters 1000, so it was a great boost of confidence.”

When Medvedev arrived in Canada five years ago, he was the No. 9 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. By the end of that stretch, it was clear he was on his way to the top, and he sees that upon reflection.

“One hundred per cent, because before this I knew I could play well, but I still never really made any huge result and that was the stretch where I made the first Masters 1000 final, won the next one in Cincinnati and made the final of US Open, which was amazing,” Medvedev said. “That was kind of the first tournament — together with Washington, where I also played well — where I started to know even more what I have to do on the court to beat guys on the top.”

Medvedev is excited to be back in Montreal and on hard courts and begin his pursuit of a title. The third seed, who has a bye, will play doubles partner Roman Safiullin or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. To the 20-time tour-level titlist, this is the beginning of his effort to finish the season on a high note.

“I’m going to try to make it 'til the end of the year for sure, try to get a big title and try to get more points because it's always important,” Medvedev said. “The higher you finish in the end, the more it shows how great your season was. So I'm pretty happy with the season, but I definitely want more than that.”