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Medvedev Australian Open 2021
Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Tennis News

Novak Djokovic: ‘Daniil Medvedev is the player to beat – his backhand is as good as it gets’


Daniil Medvedev is the ‘player to beat’ in the ATP right now, says world number one Novak Djokovic.

The Russian is currently riding an incredible 19-match winning streak, with the majority of those victories coming against top ten opposition.

He will attempt to reach a second career Grand Slam final on Friday when he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Should he win it, Djokovic awaits, and he believes Medvedev has taken his game to a whole new level of late.

“Daniil Medvedev is the player to beat,” Djokovic told Eurosport. “He’s on a big winning streak.

“He ended out the season best possible fashion. I mean, winning quite comfortably, actually, against top players, against myself in straight sets in London, and he just has improved a lot.

“He has a big serve. For a tall guy, he moves extremely well. Forehand maybe was his weaker shot, but he has improved that, as well. Backhand is as good as it gets.

“He’s so solid. He doesn’t give you much. But he’s not afraid nowadays to attack and get to the net and take it to his opponents.

“Also, I heard Jim Courier calling him a master chess player because of the way he tactically positions himself on the court, and it’s true.

“You know, he’s definitely very smart tennis player.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.