ALMATY: After slipping to No. 18 last September — his lowest ranking in seven years — former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev has mounted a determined resurgence in 2026, climbing back to No. 5. The top seed at the Almaty Open, the 30-year-old is making a late-season push to secure his place at the ATP Finals in November.Excerpts:You’ve had a consistent run this year, after struggling last year, what was the difference?In tennis there can be a lot of reasons, so I will not be able to tell you any one reason. I’m happy that I managed to make a better year this year than last year. I enjoyed a lot of parts of this year, and, if I can be in Turin, that’s going to be a great bonus to having a good year.Do you see Alexander Zverev’s success, and your own form this year, as something that gives hope to the locker room?There have been injuries, as you saw, with Jannik (Sinner), and Carlos (Alcaraz), they were champions at Grand Slams for some time, but when one is injured, there is only one left and once both of them are injured this is an opportunity for someone else.Sasha (Zverev) had a tremendous year, super consistent, because even if you look at his matches in the last tournament in Shanghai, he probably was not playing his best level still he made the semis of a Masters 1000. So that’s how strong he was this year.You’re analytical and clear-headed by nature, but what happens when you’re caught in the heat of a match?A lot of emotions, adrenalin come into play when you are trying to win, it changes your reaction to circumstances. Tennis players react in different ways, maybe some blame themselves without saying it out loudly… As I like to say, we’re all a bit crazy. It’s just that when someone is crazy he starts to scream, and when another is crazy, he maybe goes to the hotel room after and breaks everything there. I don’t go crazy in the hotel room, but if something happens in the heat of the moment, sometimes I don’t control my emotions as I would like to. But again, it is something I’ve been working on and I’ve made progress.You changed the way you celebrated after matches six-seven years ago, do you think you would be able to do that during matches, change the way you react?With the celebrations it is super easy, because it’s not every match that you win 7-6, in the third. So if it is, like 5-4, 40-15, you basically know before the point that if you make an ace the match is over, you won the match. So I don’t have this rush of emotions, like when I beat Arthur Fils in a tough match, a tough moment in my career, in my season. It was a shot that he should have made and he missed it. During this moment, I had a rush of adrenalin like, wow, I won. I didn’t expect it.For me, sometimes it happens, let’s say I’m losing 5-2, the guy is serving, and it’s 40-love, and he wins a point. Then maybe he doesn’t fall down, but he looks at his team and celebrates for 30 seconds. I don’t like it. I feel like shake my hand and then celebrate. So, I try to do more like this.Do you think if you were calmer, you would be a better competitor?It would take away from me. Whenever you see me calm on the court and I’m losing, it could be because I don’t care at this moment for many different reasons. I could have just had a bad day, it happens because we play 100 matches a year. Most of the time, I want to win, that’s why I react the way I react. I have to be calmer sometimes, also to be able to overcome obstacles during the match, but that’s something during my career I was able to do. Most of the time though, I should be who I am.Would you back yourself to win a Grand Slam title next year?Jannik (Sinner) if he’s healthy, Carlos (Acaraz) or Sasha (Zverev), at this point should be, but I believe in myself. I believe I can do much better than I did the last two years in Slams. I believe I’m proving it in the other tournaments and I know how to do it in general. I have experience of playing good in Slams. So it’s just about collecting the good things from the other tournaments, putting them in the Grand Slam week, be able to do it for two weeks, and, again, I know I can do it.
“Improving is key for Dhamne”
Daniil Medvedev believes Manas Dhamne is on the right track, with the former world No. 1 stressing that steady improvement is what matters most for the 18-year-old Indian, currently ranked No. 393.“Once you drop in the rankings or stay at the same ranking, it can get a bit tough, especially when you’re a junior,” Medvedev said. “So it’s always about a tiny bit of improvement. I feel like, from what I see from him, he is. That’s the most important thing. He’s a good player.”The Russian pointed to the unpredictable nature of the development of a young player, citing Spaniard Rafael Jodar as an example. Jodar began the season ranked No. 165 and has surged to No. 11 this week, underlining how quickly a player’s fortunes can change.“If you asked me about Jodar last year, I would say, great player, can be top 100, top 50, top 10, but you never know,” Medvedev said. “This is up to many, many things. Let’s see if he’s (Dhamne) able to do it.”
