' That's how sport is': Daniil Medvedev reflects on struggles of 90s generation’s players against Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner

Daniil Medvedev, renowned for his unconventional playing style, is currently experiencing a lean patch. His most recent outing was at the French Open, where he lost in the round of 128 to Cameron Norrie in a five-set thriller with a score of 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5. It was the first time in two years that Medvedev lost in the first round of any Grand Slam.

Overall, the Moscow-born player has suffered 11 defeats in 29 outings, according to ESPN. Those numbers are alarming for a player who was in contention to win big prizes not so long ago. It has been more than two years since Medvedev won his last title in Rome, where he defeated Holger Rune in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-5.

Interestingly, Medvedev is not the only high-profile player who has struggled in recent years. There have been other players who have found it challenging to produce consistent results on the court, including Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, and Taylor Fritz. Those five players, all of whom were born in the 90s, were once regarded as the candidates to take over the reigns of men’s tennis from the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev spoke to the media after his untimely exit from the French Open, where he discussed how difficult it has become for players from the 90s to compete with younger players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. However, despite those difficulties, Medvedev remains optimistic that his generation of players will be able to win more Grand Slams in the future.

“That's how sport is, it happens in all disciplines,” said Medvedev. “Take us from the generation of the 90s: we are very strong, so much so that at least 6 of those who played with me at the Next Gen Finals entered the top 10, me, Rublev, Chung, who had bad luck with many injuries... But then sport is like that: the reality is that Roger, Rafa, Novak, Andy were monsters of a generation that dominated, leaving just a little something to the others, to Juan Martin (del Potro), Marin (Cilic) and Stan (Wawrinka). We from the 90s arrived, we who are strong but not quite as good as Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray, and not even as good as Sinner and Alcaraz. At least for now. That's the reality, it's not serious, it's life and sport. But I'm equally sure that our generation will win at least another one, two, at least three, Grand Slam titles. More won't be easy with these younger players who are so strong"