Medvedev is the alternative

Daniil Medvedev 2020 ends as one of the great protagonists of the season. The Russian was already uncovered in 2019 with the conquest of his first 1,000 Masters and debuting in a Grand Slam final, where only Rafa Nadal could separate him from the title at the US Open. A course later, Moscow (24 years old) is confirmed as one of the great alternatives of the circuit to conquer future major and aim for the number 1. A more than real threat.

His end of the year, after a discreet start, has been fireworks. Won the last two tournaments in a row, Paris-Bercy and ATP Finals, proclaiming himself Master for the first time in his career. This double has only been available to the greatest in the history of tennis, namely: Boris Becker (1992), Pete Sampras (1997). Roger Federer (2011), Novak Djokovic (2013, 2014 and 2015) and Andy Murray (2016). As if that were not enough, his recital at the O2 Arena in London was almost unique, since he signed full of triumphs to lift the title and defeating the first three of the ranking (Djokovic, Nadal and Thiem). Before him, only Becker in Stockholm (Sampras, Ivanisevic and Stich), Djokovic in Montreal (Federer, Nadal and Roddick) and David Nalbandian in Madrid (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) achieved it.

The way to avoid

However, once it has been installed in the first four places in the ranking, Ousting Federer himself from that position, Medvedev must be aware of the difficulty of staying. And it is that in recent seasons, every time a tennis player has made his debut with the title of 'Master' it has failed to continue such success in subsequent seasons.

And examples are not lacking in Russian with Andy Murray (2016), Grigor dimitrov (2017), Alexander Zverev (2018) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (2019). Neither of these names, for one reason or another, has managed to win a Grand Slam title after reigning in the ATP Finals, precisely what Medvedev aspires to in the short term. It is true that Murray has had no options since then due to his constant hip injuries, and that Sascha this year touched the US Open title, but generally speaking, none have known how to live with the pressure posed by the expectations generated. However, Medvedev's coldness, like a rock, seems to be bomb-proof …