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The coaching carousel keeps turning on the ATP Tour, with a former World No.1 splitting with his coach after 10 months together. Daniil Medvedev decided to split with Thomas Johansson, with whom he had been working since last September, after parting ways with Gilles Cervara, who had been with Medvedev since 2017.

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“Thank you @tompatennis for the great work,” wrote Medvedev on his Instagram. “It has been a pleasure, and I appreciate all you have done.”

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When the Swede joined Medvedev’s team back in September, the Russian’s results were not good, as he had made only one final in the previous year. The switch to a new coach helped Medvedev win a title after two and a half years at the Almaty Open in 2025. Medvedev got his form back gradually as he had a great start to the 2026 season as well, and went on to win titles at Brisbane and Dubai with the help of Johansson and have a runner-up finish at Indian Wells.

Playing at his vintage best, Medvedev reached his 11th Masters 1000 final, which included a win over Carlos Alcaraz, who was on a 16-match win streak. The Russian lost to Jannik Sinner in the final, but the run in the Californian desert had given him a lot to hope for in the rest of the season.

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It was not a great run for Medvedev on natural surfaces, with his best results being semifinal runs at Rome and the Libema Open. The split with his coach may come as a surprise, but it aligns with recent trends in men’s tennis. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jiri Lehecka have also split with their coaches, Frédéric Fontang and Michal Navrátil, respectively, after ending their Wimbledon campaigns. Auger-Aliassime was with his coach for ten years, while Lehecka and Navrátil split with their coaches after eight years of working together.

One potential reason Medvedev might be looking to switch despite his Tour results is his recent lack of deep runs at Slams.

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Grand Slam Results Keep Eluding Daniil Medvedev

Slam results helped Medvedev stay in the top flight of ATP competition. Even back in 2024, he won 18 of the 22 matches he played at a Major level, despite Tour-level results not going his way. He was a mainstay at the hard-court Majors, where he won a title and reached four other finals in the seven years.

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2025 saw Medvedev have horrible Slam results as he won only one match at the Grand Slam level, having first-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Despite good results on Tour under Johansson, Medvedev was unable to get Slam results going. He looked good at the Australian Open, but was absolutely blown away by Learner Tien in the fourth round, followed by an opening round loss against Adam Walton at the French Open.

Wimbledon did not bring any change of luck for the former World No.1, even though he started his campaign with comfortable victories over Marin Cilic and Daniel Merida. However, once again, he failed to go deep at a Major, as his SW19 campaign came to an end in the third round, where he lost to Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.

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With the US Open a month away, Medvedev will really aim to get his Slam form going at the one where he had the greatest success, although it remains to be seen what coaching changes he might bring.

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Sagnik Datta

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Sagnik Datta is a tennis journalist, starting a new chapter in his professional career at Essentially Sports. A Mass Communication graduate from BHU, Sagnik’s expertise lies in covering matches and analysing game styles of players inspired by his favorite Roger Federer. An avid reader of detective novels, Sagnik also keeps an astute knowledge of the players’ off-court lives and digs into behind-the-scenes. His reporting includes a wide range of topics, from social media quotes to fan reactions to on and off-court moments, along with the analytical pieces, thanks to his background in journalism. Sagnik has an avid interest in other sports like F1 and the NBA, and often watches sports documentaries, which can provide informed content across sports, as he aims to grow his knowledge.

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Aatreyi Sarkar

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