Daniil Medvedev was the man who ended the Big Four’s reign at the top of the sport.
In 2022, he broke Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray’s 18-year stronghold on the world No. 1 ranking.
The Russian has faced all four multi-Grand Slam champions and has wins over three of them. But Medvedev has now admitted that another player served as a bigger inspiration for him.
Medvedev is one of only two male players born in the 1990s to lift a Grand Slam title. Now aged 29, he emerged on the scene when the Big Four were still hanging around near the top of the game.
The Russian hadn’t discovered his best tennis when he faced Federer three times across the 2018 and 2019 seasons, holding a losing 0-3 record against the Swiss star.
But Medvedev is unbeaten against Murray, has five wins over Djokovic, and once beat Nadal at the 2020 ATP Finals.
The current world No. 6 also has a good relationship with Djokovic and has been training with the Serb since he was a young up-and-comer, ranked outside of the top 100.
While each of the Big Four has inspired Medvedev, he says another player has given him even more motivation.
The 2021 US Open champion was impressed by Murray’s ability to lift so many big titles while Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were dominating.
“Yeah, Andy also winning the Olympic gold twice was actually crazy. You know, Andy inspires me a lot,” Medvedev told the Khaleej Times.
“But I think Novak inspires me, even if I know I’m not gonna win 24 Grand Slams. Roger inspires me, even if his game was completely the opposite of my game. Rafa is a lefty, but they all inspired me.
“And I would even say Andy, at least for the moment, is not comparable to me, because he won so many tournaments, Masters and all those titles. And I would say that maybe I like someone like Stan [Wawrinka], who won his first (Grand Slam) when he was 29.”
Medvedev is currently in a rut – he hasn’t won a title in almost two years and has been suffering some uncharacteristic early exits. But the success of three-time Major winner Stan Wawrinka has offered the 29-year-old some encouragement.
He continued: “And this is kind of more inspiring, because he was beaten by those guys from time to time, and he was like, ‘okay, but I’m going to do it’.
“And that’s what I want to do as well. As I said, lately my level has been a bit lower than I expected, but I know what I’m capable of.”
Medvedev lost in the second round of both the Australian Open and Rotterdam Open this year. He turned things around in Doha, reaching the quarter-finals, but was forced to retire mid-match with food poisoning.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk