Medvedev Spurred Cheers and Jeers at the Last U.S. Open. Now, He’ll Just Play.

“You wouldn’t say from a tennis coach’s perspective that he is an ideal player for his shots, but he does everything so well,” said Aljaz Bedene, who lost to Medvedev last week in the third round of the Western Southern Open. “He moves well, he serves well, he’s tall. Even if his shots look odd at times, he hits everything so well.”

Tennys Sandgren, a 2018 and 2020 Australian Open quarterfinalist, recalled marveling at Medvedev the first time he saw him, on a practice court in Lyon, France, three years ago.

“He was hitting them so hard and so flat,” Sandgren said. “I was like: ‘What is this? What are these levers moving this way?’”

Medvedev’s coach, Gilles Cervara, said that “Daniil has this unusual technique because of his unusual body.”

“The technique works with his body, his biomechanics, and also his psychology and mentality,” Cervara added. “It’s a system: All four things go into that technique.”

Djokovic, who lost twice last year to Medvedev and won a bruising four-set match against him at the Australian Open, said that despite “not the best-looking technique” on his forehand, Medvedev’s unshakable backhand makes engaging him in metronomic rallies a mistake.

“It’s kind of cat-and-mouse when you play him,” Djokovic said. “You’re really trying to change the depth and not just go kind of left-right, because he likes the rhythm.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/sports/tennis/us-open-medvedev.html