Daniil Medvedev back to where he belongs

In a 45-minute phone call with Roddick, Medvedev mentioned how he felt everyone was hitting a bigger ball on tour these days and that perhaps he too should try and hit super-aggressively.

“I’m like, I don’t know if that’s your skillset. Is there a way for you to be aggressive without just swinging harder?” Roddick revealed on his podcast Served.

Roddick told Medvedev that he has been playing the same patterns for over a decade, and there could be a way to change things up.

“Who knows what lands? But I’m guessing I wasn’t the only call that he made. So credit to him,” Roddick continued.

“Because sometimes it’s really hard when you’ve been successful doing one thing and playing a certain way for a long time, finding that mix of adjustment at 30 years old and implementing new things. Or going to a former Grand Slam winner in Thomas Johansson and saying, ‘Okay, what do you think, what adjustments can be made? And I give him credit for, at least, curiosity.”

Fresh eyes

Post-US Open, Medvedev announced he was parting ways with his long-time coach Gilles Cervara and he started working with former Australian Open champion (2002) Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke.

Not long after they kicked off their new partnership, Medvedev ended an 882-day title drought by lifting the trophy in Almaty last October. He finished his 2025 campaign with a 15-5 run and entered his first preseason training block with his new team keen to build on his promising late-season surge.

So what were some of the things he and his coaches were particularly eager to work on during that time?

“It's tough to answer exactly because you have forehand, backhand, forehand in attack, forehand in defence, forehand on the slice, whatever. So we just tried to work a lot on the small details, serve, volley, of course, baseline shots, a little bit the game itself,” Medvedev told rolandgarros.com in an interview last month.

“But then the good thing was that I finished the year pretty strong, so it was more about how do we keep what we did in the end of the year and maybe add a bit of here and there? So that was mainly the talk.”

After struggling for the majority of last season, Medvedev knew he needed a fresh perspective. He had an incredibly successful eight-year stint with Cervara, reaching the world No.1 spot, clinching the 2021 US Open title, and making five more major finals. Does it feel different having a Grand Slam champion like Johansson in his corner, though?

“The difference is just that Thomas was a top 10 player, so he knows a lot, even if probably the time back then was different in terms of even all the world around us, but still he knows how it is to play this kind of tournament,” Medvedev explained.

“Sometimes when you play less good, sometimes when you play better, have confidence, no confidence. He experienced it himself, so it helps sometimes just to chat about this.

“I think the Slam itself doesn't matter as a coach in a way, but it's fun that he has it and I have one as well. So yeah, it's just a lot of fun to spend time with him.”

Building momentum

Medvedev opened his 2026 campaign with a title run in Brisbane, before losing in the round of 16 at the Australian Open to Learner Tien, who had already knocked him out in a thrilling five-set match at the previous edition.

He had a couple of early exits in February, in Rotterdam and Doha, and arrived in Dubai looking to get back on track.

“It's not easy because you always prefer to just play well. And whenever you have a couple of tournaments in a row, you make semis, maybe a final, you win one, you feel great. As soon as you start losing a bit, you start doubting maybe some of your shots because the reality is that everyone in the top 100 is strong,” he told us before his opening match in Dubai.

“I know when I play my best, there are not many people who can beat me easy and even less people who can almost beat me when I play just good. But whenever you drop your game by 2-3 percent, one double fault here and there, you lose a break of your serve, there are many guys that can beat you.”

Not many guys have been able to beat Medvedev since he said that.

He bulldozed the field in Dubai to grab the title there before navigating a difficult journey from the UAE to Indian Wells that took him from Dubai to Oman to Istanbul to Los Angeles, due to the conflict in the Middle East disrupting air travel.

In Indian Wells, Medvedev continued to ride his wave of momentum and the 30-year-old stormed to the final, snapping Carlos Alcaraz’s undefeated 2026 streak along the way.

Medvedev hadn’t beaten Alcaraz since the 2023 US Open and ended a four-match losing run to the Spaniard by playing aggressive and, at times, flawless tennis.

“It always has to be a balance, because I did try a bit in my career at one point to be, let's call it overaggressive, and it was not good. I was spending too much energy, it was not my style of playing, and I was getting crazy, breaking racquets, et cetera,” Medvedev told reporters in Indian Wells after knocking out Alcaraz.

“Right now, I'm in confidence and when I'm in confidence, I always said I feel like I'm an aggressive player, especially on my serve. It's a bit different on the return. But even on the return, whenever I get the opportunity with one great return, and today was the same, I tried to dictate the point afterwards.”

‘Tennis needs him’

He lost the final to Jannik Sinner in two tiebreak sets but the defeat did not take away from the fact that Medvedev is officially back, his form and confidence fully restored.

“I feel like he's playing great, great tennis,” Sinner said after their final showdown.

“He was very confident, winning already a couple of titles this year, and coming here, and then performing very, very well. We shouldn’t forget he's a Grand Slam champion and that's for a reason. He played great tennis, serving very well, and I struggled to return, especially on the second-serve return.

“But, you know, I do believe that tennis needs him. He's a very unique style of playing. Seeing him back at this level, it's great. He's improving a lot. Very aggressive player at the end. He has two different game styles when he serves and when he returns. So, you must face that. Yeah, it's great for the sport having him again playing this level.”

Glass half full

Back in the top 10 and pushing the very best in the game to their limits, Medvedev is indeed back to where he belongs.

At 30, he is able to appreciate his time on tour even more, and he assures he is feeling “fresh” after starting 2026 with a 19-5 win-loss tally.

“For sure you get a bit tired playing tournaments, but at the same time it’s not my first year on tour, so I know how to handle it,” he told to Tennis Channel in Miami last week.

“I’m also someone who always tries to think about a win-win situation. I will be honest, there are a couple of tournaments where it’s tough to see this win-win situation, but if you’re in Miami, you lose early, you have more time to prepare for the clay, and you have time to spend some good time in Miami. But if you play good through the tournament, it’s great, because that’s what you’re here for.”

Medvedev lost to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the Miami Open third round on Monday. But with his glass half-full approach, he’s probably already enjoying some down time in South Beach before he shifts his focus to the clay. Like he said, it’s a win-win.