Daniil Medvedev lost in the first round of Wimbledon. What is known about the athlete's biography

Tennis player Daniil Medvedev lost in the first round match of Wimbledon 2025, losing to Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in four sets. As a result, according to the results of the tournament, the position of the Russian athlete in the ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) may be the worst since May 2019. Izvestia tells us what consequences a resounding defeat will have for Medvedev, and also shares facts from the life of the famous tennis player.

Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon 2025

The Wimbledon tournament of 2025 began for Daniil Medvedev with a sensational defeat. In the first match, the ninth-seeded athlete lost to Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who occupies 64th place in the ATP world rankings. The match lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes and ended with a score 7:6 (7:2), 3:6, 7:6 (7:3), 6:2.

For Medvedev, this is the first loss in his career at the opening stage of Wimbledon. In 2023 and 2024, the athlete reached the semifinals of the tournament, losing both times to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. At the same time, in May, the Russian also crashed out of another Grand Slam tournament — in the first round of Roland Garros, he lost to British tennis player Cameron Norrie, the 81st racket of the world. The meeting ended with a score 5:7, 3:6, 6:4, 6:1, 5:7.

Before losing at Wimbledon 2025, Medvedev was ranked 9th in the ATP rankings, but at the end of the tournament he will leave the top 10 best tennis players in the world. The loss cost the athlete 790 points, which reduces his position to at least 14th place. As a result, Medvedev will also lose the title of the first racket of Russia. Andrey Rublev is the main contender for his place, but Karen Khachanov can also compete for the status of the country's best player.

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At the same time, Medvedev himself believes that he still has a chance to return to the top ten of the ATP rankings. In an interview with Punto de Break, the athlete recalled that he had previously reached the finals of the Wortmann Open in Halle.

"If I can play the way I played in Halle, to be honest, even the way I played today, I feel like I can get back into the top ten. It's a matter of results. I don't have many points to defend until the end of the year," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The tennis player noted that he does not feel much excitement yet, but he will worry if he "finishes the year in 15th place in the world."

Daniil Medvedev — childhood, early career

Daniil Medvedev was born in 1996 in Moscow. His parents were far from sports. Father Sergey Medvedev worked as a system programmer, and then became an entrepreneur. Olga Medvedeva's mother was involved in raising children — in addition to the future athlete, two daughters, Elena and Julia, grew up in the family.

Shortly before the birth of their long-awaited son, the couple planned to move to France so that after the age of 18, the boy could apply for French citizenship. However, Daniel violated his parents' plans by being born prematurely. As a result, the family remained in Russia.

As a child, Daniel tried many different hobbies. He practiced swimming, chess, and soccer, and tried to play the guitar. The boy got into the tennis section at the age of six by pure chance — his mother caught sight of an announcement from a Moscow region club about recruiting new students.

Medvedev did not immediately think about the career of a professional tennis player. He studied at the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum until the ninth grade, and graduated from the last two grades with an external degree. After graduation, he entered three universities at once: MGIMO, the Russian University of Sports (RSUFC) and the Institute of Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge (IIEZ).

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In parallel, in 2010, as part of the Moscow Region national team, Medvedev won his first serious competition, the Russian Junior Tennis Team Championship. In the same year, he won the international youth tournament in Kazakhstan, and in 2011 he won silver at the tennis tournament at the European Youth Olympic Festival.

In 2014, Medvedev decided to focus on building a sports career and moved to France, where he continued to train at the academy of Antibes. Soon after, the young tennis player began participating in adult competitions.

Daniil Medvedev — professional career, achievements

Already in 2014, Medvedev won his first titles, with one victory in singles and two in doubles tournaments of the futures series. The following year, the athlete made his debut in the Challenger series tournaments, and in October he took part in the ATP main draw tournament — paired with Aslan Karatsev, he reached the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup 2015. The tennis player completed the spring 2016 season as the 99th racket of the world.

Since 2017, Medvedev's career has been going up rapidly. In January, the Russian reached the final of the ATP tournament for the first time, and in July, in the first round of Wimbledon, he beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who was ranked 3rd in the ATP rankings at that time. By the end of the season, the athlete became the 65th racket of the world.

2018 was also a successful year for the Russian tennis player. In Sydney, Medvedev beat Australian Alex de Minaur to win his first ATP tournament title. In August, he defeated American Steve Johnson in the final of the tournament in Winston-Salem, and in October he won the tournament in Tokyo. By the end of the year, the athlete had risen to 16th place in the ATP rankings.

In 2019, Medvedev reached the final of the US Open in the United States, becoming the first Russian in 19 years to do so. In the final match, he lost to Rafael Nadal with a score of 5:7, 6:3, 5:7, 4:6, 6:4. The athletes fought for the title of champion for 4 hours and 49 minutes, but the Spaniard won the fifth set. In September of the same year, Medvedev won the St. Petersburg Open, and in October he won another ATP tournament title in Shanghai. The athlete finished the season in the status of the fifth racket of the world.

In 2020, the Russian tennis player won the Final ATP tournament, defeating all the opponents in his group. In the final, he faced Austrian Dominic Thiem, who was one of the top 3 best players in the world at that time.

At the beginning of the following season, Medvedev reached the finals of the Australian Open-2021, and in March won the title at the tournament in Marseille, becoming the second racket of the world. In the final of the 2021 US Open, the athlete beat Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, receiving his first Grand Slam title. In September of the same year, the Russian became the winner of the Laver Cup as part of the European national team.

The following year was one of the highlights of Medvedev's career — in January he reached the final of the Australian Open, and in February he topped the ATP rankings. The athlete stayed in first place for three weeks, and then had to temporarily interrupt performances in order to have a hernia operation. But in June, the Russian tennis player regained his leadership.

In total, Medvedev spent 16 weeks on the 1st line of the rating - in September 2022, he lost to Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios in the final of the US Open, losing precious points. At the same time, in the same year, the athlete won tournaments in Los Cabos and Vienna.

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In January 2023, after losing in the third round of the Australian Open, Medvedev dropped out of the top ten of the ATP rankings. Nevertheless, the athlete managed to pull himself together and reach the finals of five tournaments in a row, winning four titles at the same time. In May, the tennis player won his first victory on clay during the Masters in Rome. Thus, the Russian became one of the 12 players with titles on all three surfaces (dirt, grass, hard). As a result, Medvedev ended 2023 in the status of the third racket of the world.

In 2024, the athlete reached the finals of the Australian Open for the sixth time, but lost to Italian Yannick Sinner in the decisive match. In total, Medvedev has won 20 ATP singles titles in his career.

Daniil Medvedev — personal life

Daniil Medvedev is married to former tennis player Daria Medvedeva (nee Chernyshkova). The couple legalized their relationship in 2018. In 2022, their eldest daughter Alice was born. The girl was born in Nice, and Andrei Rublev became her godfather.

In January 2025, the Medvedevs became parents for the second time, but the child's name and gender are still a secret.

Daniil Medvedev — scandals

Daniil Medvedev is known not only for his high-class game, but also for his explosive personality. Many people note that in life an athlete gives the impression of a calm and balanced person, but he easily loses his temper on the court. Because of this, he has been at the center of scandals more than once.

So, during the US Open tournament in 2019, the Russian caused discontent among American fans. In the third round match against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, Medvedev threw his racket towards the referee's tower and received a warning. After that, the audience booed the athlete, and he gave them the middle finger in response. Despite the obvious violation, the gesture was noticed only on repeat, so the referee did not make a remark to the tennis player.

Despite the strong negative reaction from the public, Medvedev still won the match. Afterwards, he thanked the American fans for the "energy that helped him win."

In 2022, the Russian tennis player distinguished himself again, pointing out the low intelligence of the audience, who created noise during his serves in the second round of the Australian Open. In the same year, the athlete almost started a conflict with a fan who called him a loser after losing the Masters series. Then Medvedev approached the young man and asked "what his problem was," but the quarrel did not continue, as his opponent barely spoke English.

"The people around him wanted him to apologize. But it doesn't matter. I will never allow someone to shout nasty things at me and leave without saying anything," the tennis player explained in an interview with L'Equipe.

In February 2025, during the ATP tournament in Dubai, Medvedev accused the referee of being biased against Russian athletes. After losing a set in the match against Tallinn Grixpor, the tennis player said something to the referee and received a warning for unsportsmanlike behavior. After that, he asked, "Is this a double standard against Russians?" The arbitrator rejected the charges. At the end of the match, Medvedev lost with a score 2:6, 7:6 (9:7), 7:5 and he refused to shake the judge's hand in the final.