A number of tennis players are currently making a few notable changes to their coaching teams ahead of the 2024 Indian Wells and Miami Open and Daniil Medvedev has followed suit. He has announced that his coach, Gilles Cervara, will be returning for an eighth season with him, but the dynamics will be a little different this time.
This year, Cervara will be traveling a little less with the Russian. Medvedev has already found an alternative to accompany him to the tournaments that Gilles Cervara misses.
The alternative coach in concern is none other than former French player Gilles Simon , who has joined Daniil Medvedev’s technical staff. Following his heartbreaking loss in the final of the 2024 Australian Open, Medvedev started training at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy under the supervision of coaches Cervara and Eric Hernandez. Gilles Simon was also present in those sessions and shared the court with the 2021 US Open winner.
Simon’s exact role in the technical team of Daniil Medvedev has not been confirmed yet, but this much is sure that he will accompany the Russian to a number of tournaments this season, starting with the Dubai Open. They will also travel together to the Madrid Open and the Paris Masters later this year.
Gilles Simon’s title doesn’t matter. What will count is the quality of our work, the harmony of our contributions, and the results. That’s what’s important. Gilles Cervara told Tennis Majors
Who is Gilles Simon, the latest addition to Daniil Medvedev’s technical staff?
Frenchman Gilles Simon is a former tennis player with a career-best ranking of World No. 6 in singles (in 2009). He won a total of 14 ATP titles throughout the length of his career and his best performances in a Grand Slam tournament came in 2015 Wimbledon and the 2009 Australian Open, when he reached the quarterfinals of both.
Simon, who is currently 39 years old, announced his retirement in 2022 and has now started pursuing a career in coaching. He is definitely doing things correctly, as he was noticed by Gilles Cervara and has already made it to the team of Daniil Medvedev. The Russian player has said that the addition of Simon will strengthen his team, help them win titles and help him become a better player.
Medvedev will step into the 2024 Dubai Open as the defending champion, with hopes of winning his second back-to-back title at the tournament. Following that, he will shift his focus to the Indian Wells and the Miami Open, where he will be accompanied by Gilles Cervara.
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