Medvedev brings a touch of class
It was a sliding doors moment for Daniil Medvedev to miss out on playing at the ASB Classic in 2018, but he’s glad to be locked in for January’s tournament in Auckland.
It has been an incredible year for the 23-year-old Russian, who pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets in the final of the US Open, while also winning tournaments in Sofia, Cincinnati, St Petersburg and Shanghai.
He also made it to the final in five other tournaments, which resulted in his ranking jumping from No 16 to No 4 in the world.
He’s without doubt the star attraction in an impressive lineup of players for January’s men’s Classic, which also includes Karen Khachanov, John Isner and Denis Shapovalov.
Medvedev will be coming to New Zealand for the first time, but he revealed he came within a whisker of playing at the Classic in 2018.
At that time he was 65 in the world and the last direct acceptance was Guido Pella from Argentina at 64. So because he’d miss out on making the main draw, he went to Sydney instead and went on to win his first ATP title there. Oh, and Pella pulled out of the Classic after the draw had been done.
He got to the semifinal in Doha the week before, then claimed he had a shoulder injury, which few people believed, but still came to Auckland to pick up $7000 of prizemoney and avoid a fine.
Medvedev told Stuff the story of what happened in 2018.
‘‘The thing was that my girlfriend, now my wife [Daria Medvedeva], she had a visa to New Zealand but they rejected her visa to Australia,’’ Medvedev said. ‘‘We wanted to be together, so I thought I’d go to play the tournament in Auckland and I was first out [of making it into the draw] and usually there are [unused] special exempts and people retiring, so you get in easily.
‘‘Ninety-nine times out of 100 you make it in. But this time there were two special exempts, with two guys taking them. There were zero withdrawals, so I had to play Sydney instead. But I don’t regret doing that.’’
Medvedev admits to not knowing a whole lot about New Zealand, but even so, he says he is looking forward to making his first visit to the country.
‘‘I’ve heard that the nature is great in New Zealand,’’ he said. ‘‘I really like all of the animals and stuff, so I think it’s going to be fun.’’
It could be argued that Medvedev is the best player to play at the Auckland ATP tournament since Bjorn Borg won it in 1974 when the Swede was still just 17. So if you don’t count him, you have to go back to Roy Emerson in the 1960s.
Yes, there have been higher profile players who’ve played the tournament, but they’ve usually been either towards the end of their career, or on their way up.
David Ferrer was No 3 in the world when he lost in the semifinals of the Classic in 2014, but only had that ranking because Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal had been out injured. Not even Ferrer thought he was better than Murray or Nadal.
But Medvedev is genuinely the fourth best player in the world and it wouldn’t surprise if he wins his first grand slam next year.
Not only is he playing well, he’s also feeling confident about his game.
‘‘I feel like I when I’m in good shape I can do a lot of damage to mostly all of the guys and that I have the levels and abilities to win almost every match I play.
‘‘After all, it’s very important to keep in shape, to do everything you can to stay at your best, which is not easy and sometimes you don’t manage to do it. But in general I’m happy about myself.’’
Medvedev is fairly unique in being both big and fast around the court, so he’s able to hit winners and he’s also hard to beat with a passing shot.
However, he feels it’s his ability to anticipate and react to where the ball is going to go, which has helped him most.
‘‘It’s not only fast, it’s that I read the game quite well and that’s the most important thing,’’ he said.
‘‘Sometimes you’re not feeling well, you lose it, you’re slow to every ball and you don’t know what to do. I don’t know if it’s me being fast, or I’m reading the game well.’’
Medvedev always looked like he had the potential to be one of the best players in the world, but so too had the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios, Kei Nishikori and David Goffin.
So has the success in 2019 come as a surprise to Medvedev?
‘‘I can’t answer this,’’ he said.‘‘If you’d ask me two years ago, saying that I’d be in the top 10 in two years’ time, then I would be really surprised.
‘‘But at the same time I had been working for this. It just goes with the work and you take it.
‘‘I’m happy with where I am, but I want to be stronger, so let’s hope that you ask me in two years if I’m surprised to be something else.’’
For ASB Classic tournament director Karl Budge, signing Medvedev in March was like hitting the jackpot.
He knew he would be good, but like everyone else, didn’t realise he’d be this good.
‘‘I started talking to him in Miami,’’ Budge said.
‘‘He was in good form, he didn’t have a lot of points to defend at the back end of the year and I thought he’d be someone who’d go top 10.
‘‘So we agreed a deal and have watched with great interest since then. I was confident he’d finish top 10, I don’t think I expected him to have quite the season he’s had and to finish it in the top four.’’
Budge had a great relationship with Ferrer over the years and will always have a soft spot for him, because of the four titles he won in Auckland, but he does feel that Medvedev could be regarded as the best player to play at the tournament in recent history.
‘‘I think that’s probably fair in the modern era,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t think we’ve had a player come in this sort of form.
‘‘That might doing a slight disservice to David, but perhaps someone who’s making grand slam finals, winning Masters 1000 tournaments consistently, I’m not sure we’ve had someone of this calibre for some time.’’
implementing a pathway that can cater to 11 and 12-year-olds at a competitive level, all the way through to our professional level athletes, this was a step that had to happen.
‘‘Hopefully, this is just the start, we’d like to build further depth in these events, but we’ll rely on the support of communities like Te Anau and Hamilton, to be able to make that happen.
‘‘It’s a critical step, but we want it to be a sustainable one.’’
Wellington Open/ NZ Championships
Anau men’s ITF tournament ASB Classic (women’s) (men’s)
December 30 to January 5:
January 4-12:
January 11-18:
February 3-8:
Wellington
ASB Classic
Fed Cup in
Hamilton women’s ITF tournament
Te
The men’s ITF tournament begins in Te Anau on December 30, and a women’s tournament will be held in Hamilton from February 10-16.
‘‘We strongly indicated that was something we were keen to see happen,’’ Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson said.
‘‘So we put a big paper to the board in August around investment opportunities and the Pro Tour events were something that the board did see as a valuable addition to the performance programme.
‘‘It’s awesome to be able to restart the Pro Tour events, the tennis community have been pretty strong in their views that this is something that has been missing for a long time, but the reality was that at the time they were stopped, Tennis NZ didn’t have the money to invest in them and they cost a lot of money to run.
‘‘So eight years later, to be able to restart them and especially utilising our regional facilities is really cool.’’
The women’s event is the week before New Zealand hosts the Fed Cup in Wellington. But there isn’t a standalone New Zealand Championships this summer, as the event has been merged with the December 19-22 Wellington Open.
In previous years, players who have won the singles or doubles at the NZ Championships have been offered wildcards to the ASB Classic, but it’s unknown if the same could happen again this time.
‘‘I don’t think those conversations with Karl [Budge, ASB Classic tournament director] have been finalised yet,’’ Rea said.
‘‘Without wanting to speak for him, I’m sure Karl would see the value in professional level events, rather than what was in essence a money tournament.
‘‘I’m sure he’d be looking favourably at who’s performing well in Te Anau and on the female side, who’s preparing and performing strongly with their preseason.
‘‘Someone like Paige Hourigan (NZ No 1, at 428) has had a really strong 2019, tapered off over the last month or two, it would be fair to say, so hopefully she has a strong preseason and gets to Auckland in January ready to go.’’
February 10-16: