Daniil Medvedev’s exhausting regimen a recipe for success

An Australian contingent training at Flushing Meadows in 2019 were stunned when they saw Daniil Medvedev’s preparation.

Daniil Medvedev on the practice courts before Friday’s semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas Picture: Getty Images

Throughout a sizzling North American summer in 2019, there was no busier man in tennis than Daniil Medvedev.

The Russian, who will play Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday night in the semi-final of the Australian Open, was on a hot streak. He became only the third man in history to make four consecutive finals in the US summer swing.

Nick Kyrgios edged him in a final in Washington D.C. Rafael Nadal got him in the decider of the Rogers Cup in Canada.

Watch over 40 live ATP Tour tournaments, 40 live WTA Tour tournaments, and every ATP + WTA Finals match live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

In Cincinnati, Medvedev took down Novak Djokovic in a semi-final and then toppled David Goffin to win his first Masters level title. The eyes of the tennis world were on the rangy Russian leading into the US Open.

Medvedev was match fit, lean and wiry and clearly seeing the ball like a watermelon. He looked like a good bet to make a decent run at Flushing Meadows.

Which is why some Australians were blown away when training alongside the then 23-year-old n the indoor courts in Queens just three days before tournament.

Top players treat the weeks before a grand slam as a tapering period. The fitness work is complete. So, too, the technical adjustments.

It is a time to find rhythm on the court but look after the body. Yet here was the Russian running himself ragged across three courts.

The madness continued for 30 minutes in humid conditions. Those witnessing his training were sapped simply from watching and immediately discounted his chances.

They figured the ethic would stand him in good stead with a view to future major success but as for his US Open chances … kaput.

Yet a fortnight later, Medvedev went head-to-head against Nadal in an enthralling final claimed 6-4 in the decider by the Spaniard.

The Australian contingent were convinced. Medvedev was a champion in the making.

It is the type of brutal intensity that saw him leave his good friend Andrey Rublev with rubber legs by the midway point of their quarter-final on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old’s time has not yet arrived at major level, with a semi-final run in New York 12 months later his best effort until this year.

But the Russian claimed the ATP Tour Finals in London last year over an elite eight-man field including Nadal, Djokovic and Tsitsipas and he is unbeaten in Australia this summer.

Djokovic was undefeated 12 months ago when leading Serbia to success in the inaugural ATP Cup before edging Dominic Thiem to win the 2020 Australian Open. Medvedev is two wins away from repeating the feat.

To date Medvedev, who could usurp Nadal to become the world No 2 if he can claim the Australian Open title, has had the better of Tsitsipas.

After the Greek sensation’s stunning victory over the Spaniard on Wednesday night, Tsitsipas said the challenge will as tough against the Russian.

There was a time when he described the style of play of Medvedev as boring.

He was backtracking from that early on Thursday morning with good reason, not least because he has been beaten in five of their six outings.

Medvedev thrives when motivated to prove critics wrong, as was the case in New York in 2019, and his game is already at an exceptional level.

“(I) might have said in the past that he plays boring, but I don’t really think he plays boring,” Tsitsipas said.

“He just plays extremely smart and outplays you. He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press. That would be very important.”

Throughout the dominant era of Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer, talents have occasionally been able to beat one of the greats in a major before invariably hitting the wall.

Tsitsipas, 22, must counter that issue while also taking the attack to a rival who will attempt to grind him to exhaustion on Rod Laver Arena.

“I can tell you that I have played a lot of tennis (against Nadal), that’s for sure,” he said.

“So I can see that, maybe, as an opportunity that I … got the opportunity to play longer, to feel the court, to understand the environment that I’m in.

“I don’t feel completely exhausted. I think, with experience, I have realised how to preserve my energy and when I really have to, put in the hard work in the match.”