Daniil Medvedev is all set to make his return to the court after a disappointing third-round exit at Wimbledon last month. He will be in action at the upcoming Canadian Open, a tournament where he exited early in the second round last year. But questions were raised around Medvedev’s physical condition after he was seen training with taped knees ahead of the event. The Russian has played down any injury concerns.

“Sometimes it’s not easy to change surfaces after grass,” he said on ‘Bolshe.’ “Let’s say my knees hurt a bit, and I tried to see, maybe with tape they would hurt less. But with tape they hurt even more, so no more tape from now on. No need to worry, everything should be fine.”

Fortunately, injuries haven’t been a big worry for Medvedev this season. He has remained fit for most of the Tour and hasn’t missed tournaments due to fitness problems. Medvedev will be hoping that pattern continues through the hard swing, since it will arguably be his most important stretch of the year. 

This isn’t just because it’s the final major swing of the season, but also because he enters it with a different coach in his corner. He recently parted ways with Thomas Johansson, who had been working with him since September 2025, when he replaced Gilles Cervara.

The switch to Johansson came at a time when Medvedev’s form had deteriorated to a new low. He had made just one final all season and hadn’t won a title in almost two and a half years. The change had an immediate impact, as Medvedev went on to win a title at the Almaty Open.

He carried that momentum into 2026, winning titles in Brisbane and Dubai. He also reached the final at the Indian Wells Masters, breaking Carlos Alcaraz’s 16-match winning streak along the way. But his form took a turn once the clay swing arrived, with a semifinal appearance in Rome standing as his only notable result on the surface.

Things didn’t improve on grass either, as Medvedev failed to win a title there. That proved to be the final straw, and he ended his partnership with Johansson just days after his elimination from Wimbledon. Medvedev’s current team is led by Rohan Goetzke, and he has not yet named a replacement for Johansson.

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jiri Lehecka also split with their coaches after Wimbledon

While the split between Medvedev and Johansson came as a surprise to many at first, it fit a broader pattern taking shape in men’s tennis around the same time. Both Auger-Aliassime and Lehecka parted ways with their own longtime coaches within roughly a day of Medvedev’s announcement.

Auger-Aliassime ended a 10-year partnership with Frederic Fontang, while Lehecka parted ways with Michal Navratil after working together for eight years. Auger-Aliassime’s and Lehecka’s announcements landed just minutes apart, shocking fans, with Medvedev’s own split following shortly after.

Additionally, with hard being his preferred surface, no one could have expected him to make such a major change to his coaching team before the season. Auger-Aliassime is yet to announce a replacement for Fontang and thus will be entering the hard-court season without a head coach.

The decision was especially surprising in Auger-Aliassime’s case, given he’d reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 this season. With hard courts being his preferred surface, few expected him to shake up his coaching team just before the hard-court season began. Auger-Aliassime has yet to announce a replacement for Fontang and will enter the swing without a head coach.

Lehecka, meanwhile, needs to find his form again, with his results having slipped, particularly since the clay swing. He did find some form on grass, though his best result was only a semifinal at the Stuttgart Open. He’ll be in action at the Canadian Open as well, hoping to rebuild his season under a new setup of his own.