Daniil Medvedev may have just endured one of his toughest seasons in recent memory, but he still seemingly remains in good spirits.
After all, the 29-year-old is showing no signs of wanting to wind down his career, despite finishing 2025 without making it past the second round at a Grand Slam.
A three-time finalist at the major level, at his best, he was a constant threat for elite-level titles.
Nowadays, he feels more like an easy opportunity for a scalp early at these events, which has become a worrying trend across the last 11 months.
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Despite these hardships, Daniil Medvedev is still happy to look ahead to a brighter future both for himself and the sport.
Daniil Medvedev makes bold claim about ATP youngster
Speaking to the press ahead of his upcoming exhibition event in Russia, he focused on the latter of those two when analysing the current crop of youngsters coming through.
And whilst Medvedev reserved praise for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, it was Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien who he wanted to single out.
Where do you think Joao Fonseca will be ranked at the end of the 2026 season?
However, he was keen not to let the Brazilian overshadow his young rival, noting: “I don’t think Tien is better than Fonseca in any way; both are very good players.”
Medvedev admitted: “Fonseca has a little more potential due to his playing style and the current state of tennis. If there were no serve in tennis, although, of course, that will never happen, then, except for Sinner and Alcaraz, I don’t see anyone who could easily defeat him.”
He concluded by continuing to laud Tien: “He is a phenomenal player, with excellent court control. You can’t say he has a single crazy shot, but he plays wonderfully.”
Learner Tien’s outstanding 2025 season
Whilst all the fanfare around youngsters has naturally followed Fonseca, Tien has quietly been thriving.
After all, he finished the year claiming his maiden ATP title after months of consistent quality, having also reached another final at the ATP 500 event in Beijing before being defeated by Jannik Sinner.
The 19-year-old has added a number of huge scalps to his résumé throughout the year too, with world number three Alexander Zverev arguably top of that list.
Medvedev in particular fell victim to this young American star twice throughout 2025, winning just once. Tien’s win over the Russian at the start of the year marked his second at the Grand Slam level.
A relentless left-handed talent with all the attributes to go far, if Tien can add some much-needed pace and precision to his serve during the off-season, it could be an explosive 2026 campaign for him.
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