It is probably just as well that Daniil Medvedev doesn’t do repeats, because who knows when a moment like this might come around again.
Each of the 20 titles Medvedev has earned so far in his career have come at different tournaments, but none has been more unexpected than his triumph on the red dirt of the Foro Italico, where the rangy 27-year-old defeated Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 on Sunday to win, unforgettably, a first trophy on clay.
At an event dominated by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for the better part of two decades, and on a surface that was once an anathema to the Russian, it was the most wildly improbable of victories. Medvedev’s aversion to clay is legendary – “It’s the worst surface in the world for me,” he muttered during a defeat in Rome two years ago, “but if you like to be in the dirt like a dog, I don’t judge” – and even he seemed taken aback by the magnitude of an achievement he rated barely below his US Open win of 2021.
“In a way number one, just because it’s the first one on clay and it’s unbelievable,” said Medvedev, reflecting on where his fifth title of the year – and sixth in all at Masters 1000 level – ranked among his achievements.
“I would never [have] thought I would be able to make this. Then, [I] have to be honest, [a] grand slam is always bigger. So US Open is always number one there.
“This one is special because I didn’t think it was going to be able to happen, I’m going to be able to make it. I still kind of don’t believe – not that I won it, but [that] I played so well this week. I don’t believe it. But the way I played, I’m really happy.”
There was no victory dance on this occasion. Medvedev, who marked his semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas with an impromptu twist on the baseline – echoing the Greek’s celebration after defeating him in Cincinnati last year – evidently has huge respect not only for Rune’s clay-court prowess, but also for his competitive steel. Even so, his delight was palpable as he sunk to his knees with the title won.
It is hard to imagine that only four months have passed since Medvedev lost to Sebastian Korda in the third round of the Australian Open and dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in three and a half years. He has since won titles in Rotterdam, Qatar, Dubai, Miami – and now Rome.
With this latest milestone, Medvedev will rise to No 2 in the rankings just in time for Roland Garros. In the absence of the injured Nadal, and with question marks over the form and fitness of Djokovic, who fell to Rune in the quarter-finals, the self-confessed “hard-court specialist” must now be regarded among the favourites in Paris.
“If I would be No 3, I would definitely play one of [Carlos] Alcaraz or Novak if I am in the semi-final,” mused Medvedev of his French Open prospects. “You definitely have one of them in your draw.
“I guess it’s better to be No 2 and get the chance. Carlos and I don’t play for sure before the final, and Novak maybe 50% chance he’s not in your draw.
“At the same time, I haven’t been further than [the] quarters in Roland Garros. It’s always good to have a good draw, but it’s better to just play good and try to win.”
Medvedev certainly succeeded on the last two counts against Rune, drawing on the classic clay-court virtues of sustained patience and timely aggression as he showed that he had absorbed the lessons from last month’s quarter-final defeat to the Dane in Monte Carlo. He remarked after that loss that Rune “was more decisive in important moments” and “feels when he needs to be aggressive or defensive”; here, Medvedev’s improvement in both areas was marked.
Medvedev was incisive at the critical junctures, serving himself out of trouble in the fifth game, where he faced his only break points of the first set, and seizing on a poor drop shot from Rune to convert his only break point of the opener, which was also a set point. His defensive play, meanwhile, was of a different order to what we saw in Monte Carlo, a sharp uptick in his movement enabling him to showcase his trademark powers of retrieval, absorbing Rune’s firepower in the baseline exchanges and waiting until openings presented themselves. When they did, Medvedev timed the ball as sweetly as he ever has on a clay court, almost invariably finding the shot he required to land the coup de grâce.
“Coming here I felt amazing in practice, I felt so good,” said Medvedev. “I told my coach [Gilles Cervara], he came a little bit later, ‘I don’t know what is happening but I am feeling amazing, let’s see how it goes.’
“But then you need to play the toughest opponents in the world to try to make it. I am really happy I managed to do it and to prove to myself and everyone else that I am capable of doing it.”
Rune, enraged by his lapse at the end of the first set, fought back magnificently in the second. He broke to love in the opening game with some brutal ball-striking and, although Medvedev raised his level to get back on serve, a second love break soon followed, Rune punctuating a 38-shot rally with a searing backhand winner before the Russian made a trio of unforced errors.
Rune faltered when serving for the set at 5-3 but, for all his disappointment afterwards, he will undeniably be a contender at Roland Garros after winning in Munich and reaching Masters finals in Monte Carlo and Rome.
“It’s been a good clay season so far for me,” acknowledged Rune, who rises one place to sixth in the world.
“I made three finals out of four tournaments. In that way, I can’t complain.
“I’m a very eager person to win titles. I’ve been close. Hopefully, I will learn from it.”
In that regard, Rune could do worse than look to the example of Medvedev, a man who has suffered all manner of setbacks on the red dirt but can now call himself a clay-court champion.