Daniil Medvedev, The Unorthodox All Court Player

Daniil Medvedev is a player on the rise, a member of the “next gen”, Daniil won his biggest tournament to date at the season ending World Tour finals in London, defeating Dominic Thiem in an entertaining three set match. 

Daniil showed resilience in coming from a set down to win convincingly, taking advantage of Thiem’s mental and physical tiredness in the third set.  Daniil also got revenge on Thiem, who defeated him in straight sets in the US Open semi-final earlier this autumn.  Daniil also became the first player to defeat the top 3 seeds to win an event on the ATP tour and should be congratulated for that achievement.  Daniil has an unorthodox and intriguing game style which is definitely worth looking at in some depth.

Daniil’s Serve

Daniil is the latest in a long line of very tall professional tennis players. Since the start of the 1990s, players 6 ft 4 plus (1 metre 95) include Todd Martin, Michael Stich, Mark Rosset, Alexander Popp, Mark Philippoussis, Richard Krajicek, Marat Safin, Goran Ivanisevic, Magnus Larsson, Ivo Karlovic, Max Myrni, Greg Rusedski, Juan Martin Del Potro, Milos Raonic, Sam Querrey and John Isner. These guys have one thing in common, they serve hard and serve very well!  Daniil comes into this category. Other players from this generation who are very tall and serve big include Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios and Taylor Fritz.

Being that tall gives advantages over shorter players when it comes to placing the ball in the corners and Daniil is able to take advantage of this.  Daniil is a throwback, he has a fairly simple service motion with not much knee bend, however is able to produce a top speed of upwards of 220kph (135 mph) and regularly produce first serves between 170 kph to 210 kph (110 to 130mph) consistently. 

Daniil initially places his racquet at a perpendicular angle, giving the impression he will serve with a backhand grip; however, I get the impression he uses a continental grip. Daniil also brings the racquet down first in his service motion as he tosses the ball up, which is a classic way of serving and not typical of the more modern players who open up their bodies more, use more knee bend and have the racquet up as they toss the ball. Daniil uses a motion which is a relaxed and technically should not break down under pressure.  That includes Daniil’s second serve delivery which he can use as a weapon to get cheap points or with a lot of spin to set up his next shot.  Daniil tends to win about 74% of his first serves throughout the year, and 52% of his second serves. In my opinion, 74% is fine although  Daniil can look to raise that to above 75% to become a champion at grand slam level. 52% of points won on Daniil's second serve is not bad, but again, he should be looking at 55 to 60%.  How Daniil achieves this will be a task he needs to discuss with his coach; working out strategy and shot selection after certain serve patterns.

The serve I like most by Daniil is the slice serve on the ad court to the forehand. In my opinion, this is an underused serve in the modern game, and the returner is simply not challenged as much as he should be. Daniil is able to serve the ball away from the returner’s forehand on the ad court at pace (192kph plus). Currently, too many players angle the ball into the returner’s forehand, making them look good.  The technique of using slice to move the ball away from the forehand is a throwback serve, a serve that elevated Pete Sampras and Serena Williams to a different level, it is nice to see Medvedev use this method as opposed to standing further from the centre line and being forced to use sidespin as a result. Technically, definitely a throwback.

Daniil’s Return of Serve

Daniill has one of the best return of serves on the ATP tour at this moment in time. On average Daniil converts 40% of break points which is incredibly high and very impressive. If Daniil can raise his first serve points won up to 80% that would propel him to number 1 in the world.  Daniil uses quite a few different strategies throughout the course of his matches, making him a little unpredictable. Daniil treats tennis like a game of chess, making moves on his opponents when they least expect it, including taking the ball early and approaching the net, or standing as far back as possible near the backboard.  That is a very modern method and Daniil can be vulnerable to the player who can serve into the corners and take the net away. Ironically, Daniil used that tactic in the world tour final against Thiem with serve volley plays as Thiem was often standing near the backboard to return serve.

Daniil’s two hand backhand is reliable, and like Todd Martin back in the 1990s, can use his height at 6 ft 6 to really lean on the ball and punish it, it is difficult to hit consistent kick serves on a guy as tall as Daniil, the body serve would be more effective. Daniil uses an extreme grip on the forehand so should have more trouble there, it is often a trade off that players who use the extreme western forehand grip will have more issues there on the return.

Even though Daniil has great stats on the return of serve, we have yet to really see him on grass and clay on a consistent basis. Like so many modern players, Daniil’s game is built for hardcourts where the bounce is even and it is always possible to look good. As of now Daniil’s stats on clay do not look too clever and the natural surfaces require more out of you. Daniil has a thinking man’s game so I don’t see why he can’t win titles on clay as long as he works on it. Grass will be interesting because of his forehand grip but let’s see how his career develops.

Daniil’s Forehand

This is the shot which I find interesting in Daniil’s game. Daniil is not the first top level player to use an extreme forehand grip. My mind goes back to Alberto Berasategui who reached the 1994 French Open final. Amelie Mauresmo came through in the late 1990s and despite her extreme western forehand, became one of the great grass court players of her generation.

Therefore, having an extreme western grip doesn’t condemn you to obscurity, but it does make life more difficult!  However, clearly this is the path Daniil has chosen at a young age and he has to stick with it for his career.  During the world tour finals in London, commentator and ex British number 1 Tim Henman consistently said that Daniil hits the forehand “flat” and much lower over the net than most of his contemporaries. This is true, although personally I don’t like to use the word “flat” but it is fair to say Daniil hits on average with less loop on the forehand side. Which is slightly surprising because players associated with an extreme western forehand grip tend to hit with more spin and higher net clearance, again showing what an unorthodox player Daniil is. In Daniil’s case, the phrase “flattening it out” to hit winners doesn’t apply to him because he takes that approach at all times and is trying to hit as many winners as possible, I would not call Daniil’s forehand a typical rallying shot, he generates tremendous pace and likes to use the inside out forehand to force his opponent back and close the net, a tactic I love to see which has been completely underused in men’s tennis over the last twenty years, primarily because a lot of male players have become risk averse and play too safe, prepared to hit 30 shot rallies instead of forcing the initiative. Daniil does not take that approach which in many ways makes him a throwback type of player.

Daniil does not have the nicest looking forehand we have ever seen and you worry that technique could cause an injury somewhere down the line but it works for him. It will be more difficult to return serves with that grip on grass as the ball skids more, though grass bounces higher than in the past it is still a natural surface, does not bounce evenly like hardcourts and requires more adjustments. Clay requires more topspin so consistent low net clearance will definitely be an issue, especially when it comes to defending your position behind the baseline.  This might explain why we have yet to hear Daniil explode on clay or grass, all of his nine titles have come on hardcourts so far. 

We can see Daniil’s forehand here.

 

Daniil’s backhand

If Daniil’s forehand takes getting used to from a visual standpoint, Daniil’s backhand is a very nice-looking shot and also very effective. 

Daniil has what I would call a classic two hand backhand. Due to his height, he tends to hit with the closed stance as opposed to the semi open stance many players adopt, especially when forced out wide. In Daniil’s case, he steps into the shot a lot more, hence the closed stance, planting the right foot forward and turning his shoulder into the shot. American commentators like Leif Shiras call that approach “leaning on the ball”, meaning Daniil can really use that to hurt his opponent. The key is to step into the shot for that to be effective. Also, at 6 ft 6, the high ball shouldn’t trouble Daniil as much as it might do other players with either a one hander or two hander, many two handers also struggle with the ball up high. 

As with Daniil’s forehand, his backhands are hit quite low over the net. Again, this is a little surprising and quite a risky play but it is Daniil’s game so he has to make the best of it. Keeping the ball low can rush the opponent, however it can be risky and lead to more errors. From what I can see so far in Daniil’s career, despite the low net clearance, Daniil’s backhand in the rally is a safe shot, which is quite impressive.

Due to the fact Daniil’s game is so hardcourt centric, we have yet to really see him consistently on the natural surfaces to make a long-term assessment on his backhand. On indoor hardcourt at the World Tour final against Thiem, Medvedev used the slice backhand a lot, playing Thiem at his own game. Thiem was using the slice backhand to stay in the point, as opposed to using it to get a good position at the net, therefore Thiem’s strategy was not really effective. If you are going to hit lots of slices, you need to do something with it.  Daniil was happy to trade slices to avoid having to hit up. This demonstrates again that Daniil is prepared to play any strategy that helps him to win a tennis match and not do the same thing over and over again, like so many modern tennis players who lack variety.

Daniil’s volleys

In many ways, this might be the most impressive aspect of Daniil’s game at last week’s World Tour Finals.  It was impressive, however not for the reasons one would think. I will elaborate.

As far as I can see, like so many players, Daniil does not have the best technique on the volley, it is perhaps above average but by no means top notch in terms of technical aspects.  However, that is immaterial if it gets the job done and what is most impressive is how often Daniil is willing to go to net throughout the course of his matches.

A player that I can think of from past decades would be Jimmy Connors. Connors was a specialist baseliner who along with Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert helped to change the game in the 1970s.  Even though Connors was a baseliner, he went to net more in the course of his matches than many specialist serve volleyers. Daniil is very similar. In the World Tour final against Thiem, in three sets Daniil went to net 37 times and won 28 points, which is an excellent conversion rate. In contrast Thiem went to net 21 times and won 14 points. That indicates Daniil was the one trying to dictate play. The usual convention is the one hander will have more options in terms of the slice backhand and backhand volley but Thiem stands too far back to make that possible on a consistent basis. Daniil on return of serve would take the ball early and come to net to finish points, good old-fashioned hustle play which is nice to see. 

Daniil can improve his volleys further by making sure his arm is always out in front and takes the ball early with slice, he is getting there. Daniil also hit some impressive low volleys for such a tall player which shows he is flexible and has good movement.

Daniil’s Movement

Daniil has excellent movement for a player 1 metre 98 (6 ft 6) tall. Daniil is lean and doesn’t carry any excess weight which helps his movement. It is true to say in the past, very tall tennis players didn’t move around the court as well but that trend may be shifting slightly with Daniil who is good at coming forward. Daniil has to be careful about getting backed up too far behind the baseline which will not help his overall mission to win hundreds of tennis matches throughout his career. The only other players who were 6 ft 5 plus and moved extremely well along the baseline were Marat Safin and Richard Kraijeck. Krajicek was a serve volley specialist but moved very well in the baseline rallies. Del Potro is a great player but doesn’t move quite as well as Daniil. Daniil has the advantage on other tall players Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.

Daniil has the opportunity in the next two to three years to make a name for himself and win a major title and fulfil the promise of the “next gen” crop There will be a scramble to see which player age 25 and under will be the first to do it. Daniil has as good a chance as any and has an interesting game, doing things on the court other players don’t or can’t. Daniil’s task is to turn elevate himself from an all court player specialising on hardcourts, to an all surface player, that’s where he can become a household name.