Daniil Medvedev’s 2025 campaign has been anything but smooth, yet if there is a stage where his fortunes might shift, it could well be the China Open.
The 29-year-old brushed aside Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday afternoon in Beijing, sealing his spot in a third straight quarter-final at the ATP 500 event. Though Medvedev stands with a modest 29-19 record this year by his lofty standards, the 2023 finalist remains focused on rediscovering the edge that once carried him to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
“Maybe the feeling of the game, the general awareness [which I have been] lacking lately,” Medvedev reflected when asked what qualities he would borrow from his 2023 self. “I’m trying to get that back, and that’s also why I’m happy today. To win many return games, you need to react fast on the return, run faster on the next shot. Everything needs to be better, but it’s not too bad.”
After his first-round defeat at the US Open last month, Medvedev parted ways with his coach of eight years, Gilles Cervara, and has now been working with Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke. Competing as the World No. 18 — his lowest mark since January 2019 — Medvedev will next meet second seed Alexander Zverev, who rallied from a break down in the deciding set to overcome Corentin Moutet 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Moutet, competing at a career-high World No. 37, lured Zverev in with his trademark variety and unpredictability before landing 40 winners across their two-hour, 38-minute battle. But Zverev fought back with a determined final-set display, during which he won six of the next eight games from 0-1, to keep his title hopes alive.