Despite Limitations, Daniil Medvedev Is a Real Contender at French Open

Medvedev has more “dog” than he is credited for possessing, and has become a persistent, tenacious fighter—even on clay.

• A few quick Q&As.
• We’ll be back in a few days with a 2023 Roland Garros preview, tips for attending the event, etc.
• Television is a team sport. Congrats to Tennis Channel Studios for this Emmy win.
• RIP tennis lover, Martin Amis.

Onward ...

---

Hello Jon,

Hope you are well. Medvedev’s list of titles is so peculiar to me. He has:

• 1 major 
• 1 year-end championship
• 6 Masters 1000s
• 4 ATP 500s
• 8 ATP 250s

None of these tournaments were won more than once. I could understand a player that has only won a few tournaments never repeating, but Medvedev is a slam winner, former world No. 1 and has won 20 tournaments. It’s gotta be a record for most tournaments won with none of them being won more than once, right? 

Respectfully, 

Anthony, Brookline, Mass.

Yes, it’s one of the great tennis factoids. Medvedev has 20 titles and not only has he never defended a title, but he’s never won the same title twice. And now—how do you say “sandbag” in Russian?—the clayphobe has won Rome. Whatever his limitations on clay, they are offset by those devastatingly effective flat strokes and more “dog” than he is credited for possessing. We laugh at his antics and his comedy (intentional and un-), but he has really become a persistent, tenacious fighter. He’s really become a generational player, a surefire Hall of Famer. And now, his protestations to the contrary, he is a contender at the clay major that begins Sunday.

As for “peculiar résumés,” I present Garbiñe Muguruza. Ten titles. Eight on hard courts. The other two? Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

Medvedev has 20 titles—including a recent Italian Open victory—but has never won the same title twice :: Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

---

Hi Jon,

I think it's time for Stefanos Tsitsipas to stop talking about how he considers himself a contender and instead start improving his mentality.

Chris B.

First, a fly-on-the-wall anecdote: I happened to be in Rome last week for non-tennis reasons. And, by total coincidence, I happened to be staying at the players’ hotel. A) Have we noted how strange it must be for players to walk into a breakfast room and see the folks they’ll be competing against later that day? Something tells me that, the morning of Thrilla in Manila, Ali and Frazier didn’t bump into each waiting for their omelettes. B) Tsitsipas loses in the semis to Medvedev. I see him in the lobby the next morning preparing to leave. And he posed for a photo after, graciously talking to guests even as they asked questions like, “Do you like Rafa?” We referenced celebrities and when they behave like jerks. They get full marks when they are so cordial and decent. It must be a great annoyance to pose for strangers especially when you’re disappointed, but these interactions are so meaningful for fans. And Tsitsipas clearly grasps this.

Anyway, Tsitsipas is a contender, especially on clay, and if he vocally declares himself one, fine. My issue is the chaos in his camp. There’s no apparent joy there. He is getting coached and exhorted in multiple languages. His parents are leaving and reentering and glowering and sighing audibly and whispering conspiratorially. There’s this current of nervousness, both micro (what the hell kind of shot was that?) and macro (are you or are you not gonna win a major?). He’s such a sensitive, delicate instrument, you just look at the dynamic and … it does not appear healthy and does not appear to be optimizing results.

Watch tennis with fuboTV. Start your free trial today.

---

Halep has been charged with a second doping offense.  :: Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY Sports

Jon, what is the deal with Simona? And does she ever return?

Michael, London.

For those who missed it, last week we learned that Simona Halep was charged with “irregularities” over her biological passport, suggesting biodata and altered levels that triggered sirens. This was, effectively, a second doping offense. She, quite vocally, defended herself, as did others. Follow her on social media and her frustration is obvious.

The history of sports doping—both inside and outside of tennis—suggests that it’s dangerous to weigh in here and speculate, absent more information. Lance Armstrong is the object appearing closest in the rearview mirror. But history tells us that “X is the last person who would cheat,” is not an ironclad defense. Plenty of “nice” athletes who “don’t need to dope,” have been guilty. At the same time, “I suspected it all along,” is shabby, too. There are false positives and procedural errors and exonerations. Plenty of athletes have been caught in the gears of the machinery (as Martina Hingis once put it) and never fully regain their careers or reputation.

When there’s a positive test, when you categorically declare an athlete innocent or wronged, you do so at your peril. You bury them at your peril, as well, absent more information and full and fair hearing. 

In Halep’s defense the delays and sloggy timetable must be frustrating, and she deserves swifter justice. As for whether that justice will entail clearing her name, the onus is on her.

---

What’s the deal with these women’s trophy presentations?

James B.

On the heels of the debacle in Madrid—a women’s doubles final in which both teams were effectively muzzled, prevented from speaking—the WTA was again treated with Connor Roy–level oversight in Rome. Some of this owed to weather. On account of rain, the women’s final (for an event one level below a major) started at 11 p.m., which simply cannot happen. When the match ended with a retirement, the organizers scrambled. And the “ceremony” was … after we discover the Russian for “sandbag” can we get the Italian for “cringe.” Names were omitted. Organizers stumbled. Fans booed. It was after midnight. In the best of times trophy presentation ceremonies are fraught. This was not the best of times.

The guilt falls on the tournament. But where’s the WTA? After Madrid, it was players who took to social media to condemn this retrograde event. Last Saturday night I saw Pam Shriver and Rennae Stubbs rightly complain, Where is the WTA as an institution in all of this? 

---

Świątek and Sabalenka? Sure. But I’d bet on a big three in the making, with Rybakina in the mix. Frankly, women’s tennis hasn’t been this interesting since the Henin-Serena days. 

Yves, Montreal

Truth serum: if you’re the WTA, you love that you have this tri-valry: Three youngish players with different styles, looks and modes of being. They’re predictable in making the latter rounds of events, but then unpredictable in their results against one another. You wish, perhaps, these three were not from the small markets of Poland, Kazakhstan and Belarus, nor that a conflict in the region complicates (euphemism!) matters. 

---

• This just in Monday. Lots of chatter, especially on Twitter about Hugo Gaston, who was fined in excess of $140,000. Read Quentin Moynet’s original reporting here. This is such rotten, indefensible behavior, I commend the ATP for bringing down the hammer. Especially since Gaston is a re-re-repeat offender. 

The inevitable on the other hand … in the absence of a proper union, the ATP can do this. With a legitimate players association, in no way can a governing body issue a $140,000 fine on a guy who’s made $121K to date, not for doping or match-fixing but for breach of sportsmanship, however awful it was. (Sidebar: Someone suggested fining players as a proportion of their winnings. What is a whopping fine to one player is couch-cushion-change to others. One objection: If match-fixing is the real crime the sport is trying to avoid, you need to max out the risk-reward ratio, not minimize it.) 

HAVE A GOOD WEEK, EVERYONE!