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Daniil Medvedev reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2019 US Open, and in 2020 he claimed the biggest title of his career at the Nitto ATP Finals. Medvedev leads the pack of men chasing their first Slam title in 2021, and former top 10 player Janko Tipsarevic believes it is more a matter of when rather than if for the Russian.
The 36-year-old Janko Tipsarevic peaked at No. 8 in the world rankings a few years ago. He won four ATP singles titles during his career, in addition to being a two-time US Open quarterfinalist.
During a recent interview, Tipsarevic spoke in detail about Daniil Medvedev, who finished the 2020 season by winning back-to-back titles at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals.
"Daniil Medvedev is an amazing player,” Janko Tipsarevic said. "It is not a question of whether he will win the Grand Slam title, since he will, it is not a question of whether he will be number one – he will at one point."
Don’t see how Daniil Medvedev can have good results on clay given his style of play: Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarevic believes that given the all-round success of the Big 3 - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - a player in the modern era must have the ability to win on every surface.
While Daniili Medevdev has excelled on hardcourts so far, he has struggled on clay - something which Tipsarevic claims may stop him from dominating the game.
“Djokovic, Nadal and Federer raised the ladder so much that it is necessary to dominate (on all surfaces) in relation to the previous generation. Sampras was superior for a very long time, and he collected points on grass and concrete (hard courts)," Tipsarevic said.
“In this era, a player has to be great on all surfaces to dominate, but at the moment I don’t see that Medvedev can make good results on clay due to his style of play,” he added.
The Russian is yet to win a match in his four main draw appearances at Roland Garros, something that he recently joked about himself on social media.
Whether Tipsarevic's prediction rings true or not, Daniil Medvedev will certainly be seen as one of the biggest threats to the Big 3 and Dominic Thiem in 2021.
