Do we like them?

Do we like Daniil Medvedev?

Our score: 5 out of 10. Nothing harmful in his own words and some decent moments, but a long run of on-court meltdowns keeps him in the middle.

Medvedev was born in Moscow and now lives in Monte Carlo, and he has been a world number one. He is one of the best hard-court players of his generation. Beyond that, the reporting we read was almost all about matches and meltdowns, so the childhood and formative-years story is thin here.

The temper is the story. At the 2025 US Open he lost in the first round after a photographer wandered onto court, argued with the umpire for over six minutes, then wrecked a racket on his chair. He was fined $42,500, over a third of his prize money. Fair to say he cops his fines rather than dodging them.

In Dubai in 2025 he asked an umpire whether this was “a double standard against Russians” after a code violation. Afterwards he said he and the umpire had calmed things down, that he “maybe went just a bit too far”, and that he respected him a lot. That is an apology followed by a real conversation, which is more than plenty manage.

On the harm check, the record is clean in his own words. At the 2021 US Open Pride Day he said all players would be happy for an openly gay colleague. Right after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 he said he is “all for peace”. We found nothing from him on trans people, climate or migrants either way, and that gap is honest to name.

The asterisk is Russia. He told Match TV he had many reasons for playing the St Petersburg exhibition in late 2025, an event that has attracted repeated criticism since 2022. In January 2026 he said he has no plans to give up his Russian citizenship, while accepting that others have. Where you land depends on whether you see a player doing his job or someone lending a contested event his name.

This year has been bumpy and brilliant. In March he beat Carlos Alcaraz to reach the Indian Wells final, then was accused by some of cheating against Jack Draper over a line call he raised late. He said he should have spoken up sooner but did not feel he cheated, and the umpire ruled in his favour after a video review.