World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev has been in sensational form during the hardcourt season in the North American region. He did the unthinkable by knocking off Novak Djokovic in the US Open final. In doing so, he stopped the Serb from winning his 21st Major. 

Recently, Daniil Medvedev’s coach Gilles Cervara spoke on the changes they made to his game and strategy from the beginning of the year till now. He felt the Russian powerhouse was missing the energetic aspect of his game. He also felt he was slightly inexperienced and wasn’t ready for the grand stage. 

Speaking on this topic, he stated, “In February, he was missing an invisible, energetic aspect. I don’t like the word mental, but it wasn’t up to par. Daniil came out of two very strong matches in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. I think with his inexperience in the Grand Slam finals he figured that was going to be enough and that was a real mistake.” 

Daniil Medvedev made changes during the 2021 season

Earlier this season, Medvedev appointed a trainer for mental training. To overcome a player of Novak’s caliber is no mean feat. It is probably the toughest thing to achieve given his form this season. They added a member in the Medvedev camp after the Australian Open loss this season. 

The 40-year-old further added, “Daniil and Francisca (Dauzet, his mental trainer) had noted this aspect in the debrief. Everyone on the team learned from this experience. It was a key to this final on our side. Novak’s level is something else, anyway, we were ready.”

At the moment, Daniil can rejoice in the occasion of winning his 1st Major. We wish him the very best for the rest of the season and it will be interesting to see how he performs in the next year. 

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