Daniil Medvedev is slowly finding his footing in 2025, as he makes his presence felt on the grass.
After suffering a disappointing first-round exit at the French Open, Medvedev lost his second-round match at the Libema Open on grass.
Bouncing back, Medvedev beat Daniel Altmaier, Quentin Halys, and Alex Michelsen en route to the Halle Open semi-finals.
There, the Russian picked up his biggest win of the season, as Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev in three sets 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
Photo by Thomas F. Starke/Getty Images
Advancing to the final, Medvedev fell to Alexander Bublik, 3-6, 6-7, missing out on a chance to win his first title since May 2023.
When the 29-year-old was ranked number one in the world, one year after his US Open win in 2021, few would have predicted he would ever have to wait 24 months for a title.
During a recent interview, Medvedev was asked which of the two achievements, the number one ranking or the Grand Slam win, was more valuable to him.
Daniil Medvedev says winning a Grand Slam is ‘100%’ more valuable than being world number one
Before Wimbledon, Medvedev was asked by Russian media outlet Bolshe whether he would prefer to win a Grand Slam or become world number one.
“Grand Slam 100%,” he said.
“First of all, when you win a Grand Slam, very often, it can give you a big push, a lot of points to become the world number one.
“Both are valuable, but I think a Grand Slam is more valuable. I think only Marcelo Rios was number one without winning a Grand Slam. We talk about it a lot, but we never talk about players who have won Slams but weren’t number one.
“We don’t say ‘This was the guy who won a Slam but wasn’t world number one’, nobody says that.”
Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images
Medvedev named Rios as an example: the only player in ATP Tour history to have held the number one ranking without winning a Grand Slam title.
Marcelo Rios: The world number one who never won a Grand Slam
Chile’s Marcelo Rios enjoyed a legendary tennis career, competing on the ATP Tour from 1994 to 2004.
He enjoyed a breakthrough in 1997, winning his first Masters 1000 title at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Rios was the only player in 1997 to reach the fourth round of all four Grand Slam events (Australian Open – QF, French Open 4R, Wimbledon – 4R, US Open – QF), as he finished the year ranked number ten in the world.
30 Jan 1998: Marcelo Rios of Chile in action during the semi final against Nicolas Escude of France in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, Australia. Rios won the match. Mandatory Credit: Clive Brunskill/Allsport
Few could have predicted what was to come, however, as the Chilean dominated tennis for the first few months of the 1998 season, reaching his first Grand Slam final, and picking up three titles.
- 1998 Auckland Open – Marcelo Rios won
- 1998 Australian Open – Marcelo Rios lost in F
- 1998 Indian Wells – Marcelo Rios won
- 1998 Miami Open – Marcelo Rios won
Winning the Miami Open, Rios snatched the number one ranking from Pete Sampras, who had held the top spot for the past 104 weeks.
Thousands took to the streets in Chile to celebrate Rios, who became the first player from the nation to reach world number one.
Rios was ranked number one for four weeks before Sampras regained the position when the Chilean failed to defend his Monte-Carlo title, having picked up an injury at the Davis Cup.
He did, however, spend two more weeks as number one in August, taking his total to six weeks.
In 1999, Rios won the last of his five Masters 1000 titles at the German Open before injuries began to take a toll on his body.
Marcelo Rios’ Masters 1000 finals
He returned to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam just once more, at the 2002 Australian Open, losing out to Tommy Haas in four sets.
Retiring in 2004, just six years after becoming world number one for the first time, Rios never managed to get his hands on a Grand Slam title.
To this day, Rios remains the only player in the history of the Open Era to have been ranked number one in the world without winning a Grand Slam.