In the doubles quarter-final in Montreal, Daniil Medvedev came up with an interesting way of making a tactical decision, as he played a simple game of rock, paper, scissors with his doubles partner to decide a critical return-of-serve call. 

The moment came at 6-5 in the opening set of his match alongside Fabian Marozsan against French pair Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti, with Arribage serving at deuce. Rather than communicate verbally about who would take the return, Medvedev and Marozsan simply played it out on the spot. 

The first round ended in a tie when both players threw scissors, forcing a rematch. On the second attempt, Marozsan’s paper beat Medvedev’s rock, earning the Hungarian the right to return serve. It made for one of the more lighthearted moments of the tournament, even if the outcome ultimately did not go their way, with Marozsan’s return sailing wide to hand the game to the French pair and push the set into a tiebreak.

The tiebreak was won by the French duo, closing out 7-6(4) to take the opening set, but soon after, rain became a spoilsport and suspended the match entirely. The match will resume once the conditions settle, and Medvdev and Marozsan will continue their bid for a semifinal spot alongside two postponed singles quarterfinals also rescheduled for the same day. 

The pair have looked sharp throughout the doubles draw so far, opening with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 win over Canadian wildcards Liam Draxl and Cleeve Harper before beating Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(5), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. They made doubles their sole focus in Montreal after both players were eliminated from the singles draw.

Medvedev Looks Past a Rocky Season Toward Cincinnati and the US Open

In the National Bank Open, fourth seed Medvedev suffered a 6-3, 7-6(5) defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening singles match. This latest singles disappointment follows other poor performances, while the doubles result offered some consolation. This loss is part of a pattern that has plagued most of his 2026 season, with sharp highs and lows.

Daniil Medvedev started the year off with a strong campaign, sweeping through Brisbane and Dubai and even reaching the Indian Wells final, where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz en route to the final, but fell short against Jannik Sinner in a pair of hard-fought tiebreakers. An early exit in Miami was next, followed by one of the most surprising results of his career, a double bagel loss to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte-Carlo Masters. His semi-final run at the Rome Open showed a return to form, but his results since then haven’t lived up to his initial performance of the year. 

At Wimbledon, he faced a shocking exit at the hands of Jan Lennard Struff in the third round in straight sets. He even ended his coaching partnership with Thomas Johansson after the defeat and continues to work with Rohan Goetzke for the North American hard court swing. 

After finishing his doubles campaign in Montreal, Medvedev’s next event will be the Cincinnati Open, a tournament he had won back in 2019 but hasn’t been able to do much in recent years, winning only one match in his last three appearances. Cincinnati is a real chance for Medvedev to get some momentum going, especially with the US Open right around the corner.