Daniil Medvedev is through to the quarter-finals at the Washington Open after defeating Wu Yibing in straight sets.
Medvedev won 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the last eight in the American capital, where he’ll face Corentin Moutet for the second time in his career.
The Russian, a hard-court specialist, will be looking to pick up some big results on his preferred surface in the North American swing after a largely disappointing first half of the season.
He is yet to pick up a title in 2025, and in March, he fell out of the ATP top ten for the first time since 2023.
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
His dip in the rankings comes at a time when Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are continuing to dominate men’s tennis, having split the last seven Grand Slam titles between them.
In his post-match press conference, Medvedev mentioned the ‘new two’, and said where his current level is at compared to theirs.
Daniil Medvedev claims he can return to a level where he can ‘beat anyone’
After his victory over Wu, Medvedev said of his form: “First of all, from experience. I know that when I’m playing good, I can beat anyone. Pretty sure anyone.
“Maybe against Carlos and Jannik the odds are going to be on their side, but I can still beat them.
“Against any other player, I beat probably a lot of them many times. Less guys I played one or two times.
Medvedev’s head-to-head record against Sinner and Alcaraz:
- Against Sinner: 7 wins, 8 losses
- Against Alcaraz: 2 wins, 6 losses
“I know that when I come back to this level, I can beat anyone, so that’s where the optimism is coming from.
“It’s just work hard, try to find back this rhythm, this level, and then results can come and rankings can come.”
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty ImagesDaniil Medvedev gives an update on his fitness at the Washington Open
Medvedev had previously been struggling for a while with shoulder pain that hindered his ability on certain shots.
The former US Open champion said: “If I remember right, [the pain] would be something like middle 2023 to middle 2024, something like this.
“For sure when you’re painful almost all the time, and sometimes less, sometimes more, it’s not easy, because many practice we want to work on serve, we couldn’t do it, because I would be scared to make it more inflamed, et cetera.
“But we found a way to work with it, and I don’t have pain since [the] middle of 2024.
“When I had it, it would bother me on the forehand a little bit. But it’s more of a general energy. Whenever you have any pain, it’s not easy to play with it.”
The 29-year-old will now look ahead to his bout with Moutet, as he continues his pursuit of a maiden title in Washington.