Daniil Medvedev: Not Done Yet? Australian Open Path Opens

By all accounts, former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev endured a fairly torrid 2025, amassing just a singular win at the Grand Slam level all year.

However, the Russian may well have turned over a new leaf. The 29-year-old is yet to lose this year, having won the title in Brisbane before winning his opening match in Melbourne.

Medvedev: Not Done Yet

Many might think the best of Medvedev has come and gone; that the Medvedev that stopped Novak Djokovic from achieving the calendar slam in New York is just a distant memory. While, of course, that may well be true, perhaps he still has something left to give.

He only dropped one set on his way to winning the title in Brisbane, and now the Russian giant has already equalled the amount of wins at the Major level he achieved last year – and he did it in much more convincing fashion. At the 2025 edition of the Australian Open, he had to come back from two sets down to scrape past someone ranked outside the world’s top 400.

This year, though, he got through his first round match in straight sets, beating Jasper De Jong 7-5, 6-2, 7-6, and this time he will be hoping that it doesn’t take another year for his next Grand Slam-level win to arrive.

The Path Ahead

After Felix Auger-Aliassime retired from his first-round match, Medvedev’s section of the draw has already been blown wide open. Statistically, the Russian is now the favourite to reach the quarterfinals.

Although if he is to do so, he will likely need to beat American youngster Learner Tien – something he couldn’t do down under last year, when then-unknown Tien shocked 5th seed Medvedev in five sets.

That defeat was really the beginning of Medvedev’s fall down the rankings, as he was a defending finalist, but if you had said that would start a run of four consecutive losses at a Grand Slam, you would have certainly received some funny looks.

Medvedev’s slump last season was almost inexplicable, but he did pick up some form towards the end of the year. After his meltdown at the US Open, Medvedev split with long-term coach and friend Gilles Cervara.

This somewhat relit a spark in him, as he reached the semi-finals of the Paris Masters, before going on to win Almaty – his first tour title in over two and a half years.

He has continued that form into 2026 and could well make deep runs in Slams once again, but, as always with Medvedev, you never truly know what to expect.