Daniil Medvedev confirms the reason why he split with his coach and ended their eight-year partnership together

Follow us on Google Discover

Daniil Medvedev has shown promising signs since changing his coaching team, having picked up four wins during the Asian swing so far.

After exiting the Hangzhou Open in the quarterfinals, Medvedev reached the semifinals of the China Open, defeating world number three Alexander Zverev en route.

His appearance at the Shanghai Masters marks the third tournament under the wing of Tomas Johansson, whom he appointed after parting ways with longtime coach Gilles Cervara.

Medvedev split with Cervara after his disappointing campaign at the US Open, and has now confirmed the reason he ended the player-coach relationship with the man who guided him to world number one status.

Daniil Medvedev explains why he parted ways with Gilles Cervara

In an interview with ‘More’, the former US Open champion said: “When people disperse, it can’t be just one reason; there must be many.

“The results were, of course, unsatisfactory, and the way I felt on court was not good enough. Plus, after all, I’m 29 years old, and I’ve always been interested in trying something new.

“It was, in a way, the perfect moment, so we had a good conversation. It was pretty soon after the US Open, and he basically agreed, and we ended everything on a good note.

“There was panic, yes, indeed, and of course it still is because I’m not where I want to be, but let’s say Beijing was cool.

“There were three very cool matches, and I served for the fourth match. That means I could have won again in two sets. Therefore, I will try to continue in the same spirit.”

Daniil Medvedev’s promising semifinals run at the China Open

At the China Open, Medvedev made the semifinals of a tour-level event for the first time since the Halle Open.

The Russian claimed his first top-50 win in three months against Cam Norrie and knocked out Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets.

Then, Medvedev secured a top-five victory on hard court for the first time since November 2023, when he triumphed over Zverev, tallying a fifth consecutive win over the German.

In the semifinals, he fell to young US star Learner Tien via a walkover, despite serving for the match in the second set.