Remaining in the top ten: Medvedev and Rublev finished the season in Turin

Daniil Medvedev, after losing to Yannick Sinner at the ATP Tour Finals in Turin, failed to reach the semifinals and finished the season in fifth place in the world rankings. It is strange to talk about a failed 2024, because in the history of Russian men's tennis only a few players have managed to finish the year in such a position. At the same time, it is clear that by Daniil's own high standards this season was far from ideal. Similar words can be used to characterize Andrey Rublev's game.

Only Cinner and Alcaraz are better

Only three Russian players, besides Medvedev, have ever reached the top five of the ATP rankings. Andrey Rublev finished the season fifth twice (in 2021 and 2023), Marat Safin was second in 2000, third in 2002 and fourth in 2004. Yevgeny Kafelnikov has been in the top five for the longest time before Medvedev: he was third in 1996, fifth in 1997 and 2000, second in 1999 and fourth in 2001. That is, he has five such seasons to his credit. As now with Medvedev, who previously finished fifth in 2019, fourth in 2020, second in 2021 and third last season.

Of course, the Russian himself and his fans may be annoyed by the lack of titles in the current calendar year. Not only that, but he hasn't won a tournament since May 2023 (when he took the Masters in Rome), which is a season and a half ago. The last time he played a season without titles was back in 2017. For example, the same Karen Khachanov won three titles in the last year and a half, but he was at best on the far side of the top 10, and Medvedev....

Most likely, he would have no problem increasing the number of trophies from the current twenty if he entered the 250 category. But he didn't play in such competitions this season, and he was a very rare guest at the Five Hundred - only three tournaments. He concentrated on the big competitions and, contrary to the critics' opinion, he showed himself very well there.

Let's start with the Grand Slams, where Medvedev shares third place with Alexander Zverev of Germany, behind only Cinner and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who have two titles each. Daniil has an Australian Open final, Wimbledon semifinal, US Open quarterfinal and Roland Garros fourth round. Only Zverev can boast exactly the same results (only with a different distribution of tournaments). Even Serbia's Novak Djokovic has slightly worse results. Not to mention the others. And except for his defeat at the French Open by de Minaur, the Russian lost at Grand Slams only to future champions - twice to Cinner and once to Alcaraz.

He also has a Masters final in Indian Wells, a semifinal in Miami, and quarterfinals in Shanghai and Madrid. And that's taking into account the shoulder problems that plagued him during the season, sometimes preventing him from practicing his serve in practice. Perhaps it is in his serve that Daniil has slumped compared to his breakthrough year of 2019, 2020 or even 2023. However, he also had difficulties in his draws, because it wasn't the easiest to adapt to the new balls, which also change from tournament to tournament.

- Thanks to the new balls, everyone can hold long games now," he complained after his loss to Fritz at the start of the ATP Finals.

So the balls are slower, it's easier to reach and return them, and Medvedev has lost one of his trump cards. But even with the problems on serve and not the best adaptation to the balls, Daniil still had a season that the vast majority of his tennis colleagues would consider a dream. He has 46 wins and 21 losses. That is, he won 69% of his encounters. And that's ignoring the smaller competitions, where it's much easier to win. Yes, in terms of winning percentage this is the worst season since 2018, but in terms of numbers things are not so sad. He's only won more matches three times - in 2019 (59), 2021 (63) and 2023 (66).

Titles and anti-records

It's hard to say whether to decide on any radical changes in the team - French coach Gilles Servara has helped Daniel to stay in the elite for many years, knows him like a bastard, and a new mentor at 28 years old can work not in the plus, but in the minus. That's why it's probably better to try to modernize the game together with Cervara, experiment with rackets and strings in training, look for an optimal compromise between defense and aggression, in general, to engage in tennis evolution, not revolution.

Even if Medvedev is now unable to compete on equal terms with Cinner and Alcaraz, it does not mean that he is doomed to further defeats. Yannick and Carlos are not ironclads, they can also suffer psychological breakdowns, injuries, and loss of confidence. And the experienced Russian may well take advantage of this, if he solves all his own health problems and adjusts himself psychologically. One thing is for sure - to say that Daniil is "coming from the fair" is premature, to put it mildly.

Andrey Rublev managed to break his 13-set winless streak in his final match against Norway's Kasper Ruud at the ATP Finals in Turin, but still lost his seventh match in a row at the ATP Finals. The Russian took the last place in John Newcombe's group and was unable to add to his point reserve (200 points are awarded for each win at the final). Thus, Andrey will finish the year in eighth place in the rankings.

However, even despite injuries and surgery, this season can be called successful for the 27-year-old Muscovite. He won the tournament in Hong Kong and the Masters in Madrid, and also reached the final of the Canadian Masters, where he unexpectedly lost to Alexey Popyrin.

- It was a very hard season, but I finished eighth," Rublev emphasized at the press conference. - All such hard seasons should end like this. You have to understand the reality, the high competition and stay positive. You have to be grateful for it.

Another member of our golden generation, Karen Khachanov, finished the season in 19th place in the rankings.