After a two-month injury break, world number two Daniil Medvedev is making a comeback in Geneva against Richard Gasquet. In Paris, the Russian is just an outsider, but he still hopes for mercy in Wimbledon.
After a two-month break, Daniil Medvedev is still looking for form.
Swiss tennis has been a lot of Roger Federer and a little of Stan Wawrinka over the past two decades. After long injury breaks, the two old masters are currently fighting to catch up. Swiss Tennis took her out of the ranking at the beginning of the year. The new Swiss number 1 is Henri Laaksonen.
At the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva on Tuesday in the first round there was a duel between Johan Nikles (5) and Leandro Riedi (6), two other Swiss. Dominic Stricker, the most promising of some local talent, is attempting to secure a place in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in the Roland-Garros qualifier.
In Geneva, 25-year-old Nikles from Geneva won the Swiss duel against Riedi from Bassersdorf, who was five years his junior, 5: 7, 7: 6, 7: 5. For Nikles it was the first win in a main tournament of an ATP tournament ever. Since the beginning of the year, it has climbed around 30 positions into the top 300.
Medvedev from number 1 on the injury break
But the audience at the picturesque facility of the Eaux Vives tennis club was waiting for Daniil Medvedev in particular. In mid-February in Acapulco, he temporarily ended Novak Djokovic’s reign at the top of the world rankings before a hernia forced him to undergo surgery and a two-month break.
Medvedev had previously been the man of the hour. He won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open last September and then reached the final at the Australian Open.
But now he is no longer in focus because of his athletic performance, but because of his origin. Since February’s Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country has been more or less isolated in international sport. Tennis chose its own path and allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to their tournaments without a country designation.
In April, the most important tournament on the scene, the All England Championship in Wimbledon, broke with this practice and announced that it would not allow players from Russia to this year’s tournament.
On Sunday, before his start in Geneva, Medvedev made his first public statement about the decision. He told international journalists that he had not yet given up hope of being able to compete. He received support from Rafael Nadal, among others, who described the exclusion of the Russians as “unfair”.
Nadal spoke out what many are thinking on the tour. The ATP and the WTA were also skeptical about the decision. The rumor circulated within the scene that they were considering not awarding world ranking points in Wimbledon and thus demoting the most important event of the season to an exhibition.
Medvedev still hopes for clemency at Wimbledon
Medvedev did not expose himself with controversial statements. “It’s a difficult situation. And if you ask 100 players, there are always 100 different opinions. I don’t have to make a decision myself. It’s up to the organizers in Wimbledon and maybe the British government too.”
If he still gets the opportunity to compete in Wimbledon, he will do so with pleasure. If not, he will switch to other tournaments. His focus is currently on Paris, where the second Grand Slam tournament of the season begins on Sunday.
In five participations so far, the quarter-final qualification last spring was Medvedev’s best result in Roland-Garros. This time, too, his prospects are hardly better. After the operation, he lacks match practice in general, but especially on clay. Medvedev has yet to win any of his 13 titles on this mat.
The Geneva audience welcomed Daniil Medvedev with benevolence and warm applause on Tuesday. Richard Gasquet, his first opponent, who is best known in Switzerland for his miserable record against Roger Federer (2:19). was less friendly to the returnee. The Frenchman, who hadn’t beaten a top five player since 2015, won 6-2, 7-6 in 88 minutes.