Daniil Medvedev's promising start in Hangzhou was short-lived after the Russian's woes returned on Sunday and a familiar scenario happened once again.
After losing in the US Open first round, a struggling Medvedev made a tough decision and decided to split with coach Gilles Cervara after eight years, as well as with his long-time physio Eric Hernandez. The 2021 US Open champion didn't wait for too long to find replacements, adding Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke to his team.
Upon arriving in Hangzhou for their ATP 250 tournament, Medvedev – who is now ranked at No. 18 in the world – appeared to be full of positive energy and excited about his new setup.
"I love the way they work. I love what they say, and it's an interesting new project in my career," the Russian said in his pre-tournament presser in Hangzhou.
Also, Medvedev claimed that his level in practice was great and that he was ready for a big Hangzhou run.
"I had a very good week of practice last week. I played some of my best tennis this year, maybe my best tennis. And the goal would be to try to recreate this on the court, because if I'm going to be able to do it, I'm going to be able to win tournaments or play good tennis and that's most important for me," he said.
But then, Medvedev's Hangzhou run ended after another shock collapse
In his opening Hangzhou match, Medvedev looked sharp and routinely handled qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy 6-2 6-3. The Russian then also made a very positive start to his round-of-16 match, opening a 7-5 5-3 lead against Wu Yibing and coming inches away from sealing the win.
But then, just as was the case many times earlier this year, Medvedev's level inexplicably dropped. And instead of closing out the match in two sets and completing a routine win, the former world No. 1 ended up losing the match 7-5 6-7 (5) 4-6.
Medvedev now stands at 27-19 in 2025.
Had the Russian made a deep Hangzhou run, that would have certainly been exactly what the doctor ordered. But instead, he suffered another painful defeat and will have to get back to addressing certain things.
