A major championship (won during the Big Three era, no less), three other Grand Slam final appearances, and 16 weeks at the top of the world rankings last year are just a few of Daniil Medvedev’s impressive career accomplishments. However, the majority of his success has come on hard courts, leading some to question if he is a surface expert.
He had won 32 titles in his career as of the Italian Open this year, with Mallorca’s grass court in 2021 serving as the lone exception. He wasn’t exactly a favorite at the clay tournament despite being the No. 3 seed in Rome because he had never made it past the second round before.
However, everything changed on Sunday as the 27-year-old defeated Holger Rune in the Italian Open final by scores of 7-5, 7-5. The outcome shocked many people, including Medvedev himself.
“This one is special because I didn’t think it was going to be able to happen,” Medvedev remarked following the game. “I still have a hard time believing I played so well this week, not that I won it. I don’t think it’s true.
But when a reporter suggested “Clay-Vedev” as a new moniker, he remained silent.
During his journey to the title, Medvedev dropped just one set and recorded a number of lopsided victories, including ones over Stefanos Tsitsipas of the 2021 French Open and Alexander Zverev, who has advanced to the semifinals of the French Open twice. Although the victory over Tsitsipas was great, it was his epic recall and retribution dance that went viral online:
With the victory, Medvedev rose to No. 2 in this week’s rankings and will be drawn on the opposite side of No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who replaced now-No. 3 Novak Djokovic as the top player, at the French Open.
