Medvedev soars to new heights under the radar in 2018

Dec 05, 2018
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Medvedev soars to new heights under the radar in 2018

Published Dec 05, 2018

With all the established big dogs winning titles and flashy young rising stars making names for themselves, some players flew under the radar like 22-year-old Daniil Medvedev.

The Russian started the year ranked No. 65, dropping as low as No. 84, before ending up all the way at No. 16. He captured his first career title in Sydney, with wins over the Fabio Fognini and Alex de Minaur. After a slow mid-season—in which he endured a five-match losing streak—he caught fire to win title No. 2 in New Haven, beating Steve Johnson in the final.

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Medvedev's rise wasn't done yet. In the fall, he won his biggest career title to date, the ATP 500 in Tokyo, taking out Diego Schwartzman, Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov and finally, home favorite Kei Nishikori.

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His final good run was the semifinals in Basel, which helped propel him to a career-high of No. 16 and made him the 2018 ATP leader in hard-court wins with 38. He's just one spot behind Stefanos Tsitsipas who picked up plenty of fame and attention for his season breakthrough.