Is Another Grand Slam Coming in the Future for the 2021 Men’s U.S. Open Champion?
Daniil Medvedev is a confusing case for tennis fans. In the past decade, he’s been ranked first in the world, is one of a few people to win a grand slam in the 2020’s, and recently defeated, then ranked first in the world, Carlos Alcaraz. These moments are indicative of a great player who can compete at the level of the best players in the game right now. Winning another Grand Slam shouldn’t be too far-fetched. The Indian Wells Open has been Medvedev’s best tournament this year, beating Alcaraz and going to the finals against Jannik Sinner. Against the second-ranked Sinner, Medvedev pushed Sinner to seven-game sets, a genuinely impressive feat. Since then, Medvedev hasn’t even qualified for the quarterfinals for any Masters 1000 Tournament.
Medvedev’s case as a tennis player is a little strange. He went pro in 2012 and stayed relatively under the radar until the 2020’s. The reason for this being the level of competition until then included Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, dubbed ‘The Big Three,’ at the peak of their careers. That was an era where very few players could make a splash in the scene, the main exception being Andy Murray. His career started taking off in 2019, reaching the U.S. Open Finals and winning two Masters 1000 titles at Shanghai and Cincinnati, defeating players like Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to do so. His stretch from 2020 to 2023 is his most impressive so far, as he won four Masters 1000 titles. His most impressive feat is defeating Djokovic in the 2021 U.S. Open; this was Medvedev defeating the most decorated player in the history of tennis. Not only this, but in 2021, Djokovic had one of the best seasons a player has ever had, as he won three out of the four Grand Slams. Medvedev won the fourth.
To date, the 2021 U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam that Medvedev has won, and it looks as if things will not change for a while. Medevev’s weakness is one that ruins maybe wannabe greats of tennis: he’s inconsistent. Going back to 2019, he made it to the U.S. Open Finals, but failed to produce a quarterfinal performance in any other Grand Slam that year. He also made it to the semifinals in four Masters 1000 Tournaments that year, but he again didn’t get close to qualifying for the quarterfinals in the other five that year. His 2021 was better but still inconsistent with a similar Master’s 1000 story to 2019.
In 2026, he had a career highlight at Indian Wells, but won no games against Matteo Berrettini in Monte-Carlo. At this time, Medvedev was ranked in the top 15, whereas Berrettini was ranked 90th. Medvedev’s inconsistency is a major reason why he’s unlikely to win any large tournaments this season. In 2021, Medvedev did not have to play against Federer or Nadal, who were then ranked second and third. In 2026, the competition in his class is stiff, and despite proving his capability of beating Alcaraz or Sinner, there’s little to no chance he can play consistently enough to beat both of them in one tournament. The only chance Medvedev has on the horizon is at the Madrid Open, as both Alcaraz and Djokovic are not competing due to injury.
