Toni Nadal on why Medvedev is better than other nextgen players like Tsitsipas and Zverev

For a long time, men’s tennis has been dominated by a particular group of players. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal have been at the top of the game over the last few years and have been nicknamed the “Big Three”. The three players have won a combined 45 Grand Slam titles with Federer leading the pack with 20, Nadal with 19, and Djokovic with 16 Grand Slam titles. Though the three players are now in their thirties, they have continued to dominate and have shared the last 12 Grand Slam titles among themselves.

Next Generation struggles

The next generation of tennis stars has found it difficult to break the dominance of Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal. Players such as Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, German Alexander Zverev, and Russian Daniil Medvedev are yet to win a Grand Slam despite their enormous potential. Medvedev was, however, close to winning his first major when he reached the US Open final. Medvedev put up a spirited fight against Nadal in a five-set thriller, but despite his efforts, he fell short as Nadal clinched his 19^th Grand Slam.

Medvedev more combative than the other NextGens

Medvedev’s performance in the final has earned him praise from Nadal’s uncle Toni Nadal. Toni was left impressed by Daniil’s performance in the final and thought that he pushed the Spaniard to the limit.  Toni had this to say after the final, “we lived an epic final with two players who fought to the limit and gave a lesson in dedication, fortitude and knowing how to be. On Sunday we attended one of the best finals that I remember about Rafael.” Toni also compared Medvedev to the other next-generation players and said he felt the world no.4 would have a good future compared to his contemporaries. “My nephew was the favorite but he met a NextGen player (Medvedev) who unlike the other young players is less charismatic, but more committed and combative.”

Medveved better than Zverev

Toni has been critical of the next generation since none is yet to break the dominance of the “Big Three”. However, after Medvedev performance in the US Open final, Toni thinks that he can win a Grand Slam in future.

Toni said, “I am critical of Next Gen… In general, I say that at 20 years old tennis players were more mature (in Nadal’s younger years) than now. Medvedev, however, seems to me to be willing to do anything to reach the top, with the right will. I consider him a very complete tennis player, with a lot of control in the game and able to beat any tennis player. In recent years it has been said that Zverev was the tennis player destined to win Grand Slams in the future, but it seems that everything has changed with the arrival of this type of tennis player.”

Daniil Medvedev’s ranking and performance in 2019

Ranked no.4 (career-high), the Russian played his last match on the 8^th of September when he had to bow to Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4 in the final in U.S. Open.

This year Daniil has a 49-17 win-loss record. The Russian conquered 2 titles in 2019 in Sofia and in Cincinnati. The Russian was the finalist in Brisbane, in Barcelona, in Washington, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open.