Shortly after his victory, the name ‘Medvedev’ was already among many illustrious top tennis players who won the ABN Amro tournament in the past fifty years. A standing ovation followed. The 27-year-old Russian thanked the Dutch public – including King Willem-Alexander in the front row – for their “sportsmanship”. Tournament director Richard Krajicek welcomed the winner of the jubilee edition and called Medvedev’s victory “all’s well that ends well.”
The fact that Daniil Medvedev comes from Russia was not a topic of discussion in Ahoy at all. Not even at the organization. “We didn’t think about that for a moment,” Krajicek said. “That’s a good thing, because athletes are not politicians.”
Still, it was striking that after a spectacular opening show by singer Davina Michelle, the players of the final were announced in different ways. For example, when Medvedev announced, the speaker omitted his nationality, while Jannik Sinner was welcomed as an Italian. Medevedev also played under ‘neutral flag’ in Rotterdam, as in so many tournaments. It didn’t seem to bother the audience much. The more than ten thousand spectators saw animatedly how ‘the master defender’ Medvedev, after a difficult start, routinely dealt with the six-year-younger Sinner in three sets: 5-7, 6-2 and 6-2.
Number one in the world
Medvedev was missing a year ago at the peak of his career in Ahoy. After a grueling Australian Open final, which he lost to Rafael Nadal, he was absent from the ABN Amro tournament for the first time in years . At the time he was hot. Medvedev, a few weeks later, would become the first tennis player to end the reign of The Big Four. Because from February 2, 2004 Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray alternated as number one. No one intervened until Medvedev broke the ban on February 28, 2022 and became number one as the 27th tennis player since the introduction of the ranking in 1973. However, the change of power proved short-lived. More than a month later, Djokovic restored hegemony.
The past year showed more than ever that the top of the world ranking is not only determined by sporting achievements. Medvedev benefited from the absence of Djokovic at the Australian Open, who was not allowed to participate in the first grand slam tournament of the year because he did not want to provide proof of corona vaccination. It cost him so many points for the ranking that Medvedev would pass him. That happened four days after Russia started the war with Ukraine, which again was to the disadvantage of Medvedev.
Although Medvedev almost immediately opposed the war – “I am all for peace’, he said at a tournament in Mexico – as an athlete he was still hindered by it. Partly due to a ban on playing as a Russian at Wimbledon, he failed to consolidate his takeover of power. Medvedev even fell outside the top ten.
Meanwhile, a new star emerged with Carlos Alcaraz. The rise of the Spanish teenager was so impressive that he was number one after his win at last year’s US Open. But this also turned out not to be the beginning of a new era. Alcaraz was sidelined with a muscle injury. It was again Djokovic, who claimed the throne by winning his tenth Australian Open. He has not acted since then.
In the coming period, toppers from three different generations will battle for supremacy. Djokovic and Nadal will want to decide who is at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open The Greatest Of All Time may call. They both have 22 grand slam tournaments to their name, two more than the now ‘retired’ Federer. But one less than the also retired Serena Williams. Djokovic and Nadal will be able to count on great opposition from younger tennis players in their record hunt.
Biggest shape almost back
Medvedev can be seen as the captain of the generation that will still be in the spotlight in the coming years. Medvedev is flanked by Alexander Zverev (25), Andrei Roeblev (25) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (24), who did not get further than the second round in Ahoy. Medvedev showed last week that his great form of a year and a half ago is almost back.
The final against 21-year-old Sinner also meant a duel for Medvedev with one of the figureheads of the youngest class of world top players. In that respect, his fifth victory in as many head-to-head meetings with Sinner was of psychological significance. Medvedev is also undefeated against 19-year-old Alcaraz, who made an impressive comeback in Buenos Aires last week. The Spaniard has become a much more mature tennis player.
Medvedev is the face of a new generation of Russian tennis players, who must revive the times of Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin. But living in Monte Carlo as a citizen of the world. In addition to Russian, he speaks fluent French and English, but since the war in Ukraine he no longer gives interviews at all as a precaution. The public has to make do with short statements. “I think the audience in the Netherlands is fantastic. They like sports. And you feel that as a tennis player.”