Daniil Medvedev has struggled to find his form on the ATP Tour during the early stages of the 2025 season.
The 2021 US Open champion has been one of the most dangerous players in men’s tennis over recent years, although things haven’t gone quite to plan so far this year.
Medvedev lost to Learner Tien in the second round of the Australian Open, as he was stunned by the American qualifier in five sets.
The Russian then took a trip to Rotterdam, where he lost to another qualifier, as Medvedev fell to Mattia Bellucci, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6.
Two wins and two losses to start the year will worry Medvedev, who failed to pick up a tour-level title for the first time since 2017 last time around.
A much less experienced player back then, Medvedev certainly ruffled the feathers of several ATP Tour stars.
Steve Johnson called Daniil Medvedev an ‘absolute moron’ in Washington eight years ago
During this week’s edition of the Nothing Major podcast, the hosts were recounting stories of their most fiery encounters on tour, following Cristian Garin and Zizou Bergs’ recent Davis Cup controversy.
Former world number 21 Steve Johnson looked back on an incident he had with Medvedev back in 2017.
“I had an issue with [Daniil] Medvedev one year in [Washington] DC,” he said.
“This was young Medvedev, like 2017, I want to say around there.
“He was doing shenanigans like taking injury time outs, taking 20 minutes with the doctor and he had been doing this all summer.
“It wasn’t even against me, he did it against Grigor [Dimitrov] at Queens, he did it against all these guys and I was like enough is enough, I just snapped.
“This was at midnight in those DC days where it was raining and we were the last match out there.
“I was up a set and a break and he takes literally a 25-minute timeout because he is like I can’t breathe, I need the doctor, I am going to die.
“I was like alright, just retire and we will get out of here.”
The Russian star recovered quickly, much to the annoyance of Johnson.
“He comes out and he is like Usain Bolt for the next 90 minutes,” he said.
“Bad sign for me, I lose 7-6 in the third.
“Got to the net and had a few choice words, continued to more choice words.
“I basically said like you are an absolute moron, play by the rules.
“We got back to the locker room and I completely lost it, I got a heavy fine, I just snapped.”
Johnson went on to explain how he feels about Medvedev now and revealed what the former world number one told him in North Carolina a year later.
“We have since reconciled our differences and I am a big fan of his now,” he said.
“We played in the finals of Winston-Salem a year later and he was like hey man, my bad, I shouldn’t have done that, I was junior-ish.
“I was like thanks, that’s all I care about, I don’t care if I lose but when you do the circus show of getting a win, I did not care for.”
Medvedev beat Johnson, 6-4, 6-4, to win his second ATP Tour title at Winston Salem in 2018.
What’s next for Daniil Medvedev after poor start to 2025?
Currently 2-2 for the season, things aren’t looking too great for the man who was ranked number one in the world just three years ago.
Medvedev quashed retirement rumors after his shock defeat to Bellucci in Rotterdam and will be looking to get back to winning ways before too long.
The Russian is set to play a busy schedule this month, as he prepares to take part in a tournament ever single week for the forseeable.
- February 10 – Marseille Open
- February 17 – Qatar Open
- February 24 – Dubai Tennis Championships
- March 3 – Indian Wells
He will hope to rediscover his 2023 form when he heads to the Middle East in a few week’s time, as he completed the Doha/Dubai double two years ago.
Medvedev dropped just one set across the two tournaments as he dominated en route to his 17th and 18th career titles.
| Tournament | Round | Opponent | Score |
| 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships | F | Andrey Rublev [2] | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships | SF | Novak Djokovic [1] | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships | QF | Borna Coric [8] | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships | 2R | Alexander Bublik | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships | 1R | Matteo Arnaldi [LL] | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2023 Qatar Open | F | Andy Murray [WC] | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2023 Qatar Open | SF | Felix Auger-Aliassime [2] | 6-4, 7-6 |
| 2023 Qatar Open | QF | Christopher O’Connell | 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 |
| 2023 Qatar Open | 2R | Liam Broady [Q] | 6-4, 6-3 |
Arguably Medvedev’s most impressive win came in the Dubai semi-finals as he took down number one seed Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
In a match played at the very highest level, Medvedev secured his fifth career win over the 24-time Major champion.
While Medvedev would no doubt love to win in Dubai once more, he’ll first set his sights on Marseille, as the tournament gets underway on February 10.
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