Is Learner Tien Daniil Medvedev’s Kryptonite?

Daniil Medvedev has made a career of being the impossible man. A player so adept at returning the ball to the other side of the court, shot after shot. It is one of the reasons why so many players find it a nightmare to come up against him, to the point that, earlier in his career, he was considered a spiritual successor to Djokovic for his ability to grind opponents into submission.

Recently, however, he has struggled for form, particularly last season, but it certainly looked like he was gradually getting back to his old form. The first signs of him not quite being the force he was came last year at the Australian Open, where he was out-ground and outlasted by a young, not well-known American at the time, Learner Tien.

Tien Bests Medvedev, Again

Back then, it was considered a blip, a minor blemish; very few would have considered it a sign of things to come, either for their matchups or for Medvedev’s season. However, what followed was a truly forgettable season for Medvedev, and a growing body of work in his subsequent matchups against Tien showed that his Australian Open defeat to the then-teenager was anything but a fluke.

What has followed since then are hard-fought, long matches, riddled with edge-of-the-seat stuff rallies. Tien got the better of him at Beijing, albeit via retirement, before the Russian finally got one over him at the Shanghai Masters. All these matches served to reinforce that Tien can go toe-to-toe with the resolute Medvedev.

The thing Medvedev would have learnt so far, and which has become apparent to anyone who has watched their matchups, is that simply trying to outdo the American from the back of the court is a fool’s errand. Tien does not possess a serve comparable to Medvedev’s, but he more than makes up for it in other aspects of his game once the point starts.

The long, extended rallies seem to infuse him with more belief. The ability to not just hunt down but also retrieve impossible shots, and then turn the point around, is something Medvedev has grown accustomed to, but not as the player at the receiving end. It now appears that he is faster, more resolute, and fitter than Medvedev. Medvedev has found his game to be full-proof, describing him last year as “the whole package” and joking that he hates playing him.

Medvedev Going Forward

Since then, Medvedev has slowly found some of his old confidence and going into their latest matchup was expected to have answers to the niggling question of Tien. After all, it is one of the qualities that enabled him to finally win his solitary Grand Slam at the expense of Djokovic.

However, what played out was easily his worst performance against the now 20-year-old Tien. Medvedev never really got into the match and suffered his first-ever bagel. It was truly a chastening experience, especially having now occurred consecutively at the Australian Open, even more so on a surface Medvedev considers himself a specialist on. He might have joked about hating playing Tien, but he probably means that now.

What is now apparent is that the big Russian needs to evolve his style of play if he is to remain relevant at the upper echelons of the sport. Trying to out-grind opponents is no longer a sustainable strategy, especially with players like Tien hovering about.

He would be looking to add more weapons to his game style and become more aggressive, but you can be sure he would hope his path does not align with the resolute Tien, at least not anytime soon. Because when it comes right down to it, it certainly feels like the young American is his Kryptonite.