Daniil Medvedev was not expecting to win the title in Dubai based on his preparation for the tournament.
Medvedev beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jenson Brooksby, Stan Wawrinka and Juncheng Shang to reach the final in Dubai.
The final did not actually go ahead, with Tallon Griekspoor withdrawing due to injury, meaning that Medvedev won the same tournament for the first time in his career.
Medvedev has been the third best player so far this year, having already won two titles in 2025, but he has admitted that his preparation for the Dubai Tennis Championships was far from ideal.
Daniil Medvedev admits he was really struggling before the Dubai Tennis Championships
Medvedev lost in the second round of the Qatar Open, and was looking to bounce straight back at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
While it appeared that was the case on the surface, Medvedev has now suggested to Tennis Bolshoi that his preparation in Dubai was so bad that he stopped trying in practice.
“Right before the Dubai tournament, let’s say two-three days before, my new team wasn’t there yet, it was just Thomas [Johansson],” said Medvedev.
“I couldn’t put a single ball into court, I was losing to everyone very easily. Rackets were flying, court backgrounds were cracking.
“And in the last practice before the first round, which happens to me very rarely, but I half gave it away. I started doing serve and volley and doing dropshots, after any kind of shot. I just didn’t care anymore.
“But at the same time, I understand, okay I’ll reset for the match. It happens, it’s like a reboot. So there’s no secret to success, you still have to work hard throughout the year.
“Try to give your maximum in practice and in matches, and then there will be more chances that at some point during the year it will click.”
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Daniil Medvedev ranks his semifinal win against Felix Auger-Aliassime
With the final being a walkover, Medvedev’s last match win came in a straight sets semifinal victory over world number nine Auger-Aliassime.
This was a very impressive performance from Medvedev, and he was asked where it ranks both recently and throughout his career.
“Definitely in the top of the recent years, yes,” answered Medvedev. “There were a few other really good matches too. For example, two matches against [Alex] De Minaur, one in Turin, one in Shanghai, maybe a couple more.
“But in recent times, yeah, this one is definitely up there, because again, if you think back to last year, say against someone like [Cameron] Norrie in Rome, okay different surface, but I played great.
“Here it’s a semifinal against a top 10 player, that adds a bit of extra charm to the win. But if we’re talking my whole career, I’ve had a lot of good matches and this is just one of them.”
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Medvedev is still yet to return to the top 10, but is now only 45 points away from world number 10 Alexander Bublik.
The 30-year-old is still in Dubai due to the ongoing situation, but Medvedev is next scheduled to compete at Indian Wells.
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