Daniil Medvedev becomes second man born in 1990 or later to collect 300+ hard-court victories
Daniil Medvedev recorded his 300th hard-court match win after he beat Zizou Bergs 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the Qatar Open, becoming just the second man born in 1990 or later to do so.
The Russian struggled in his three-set victory over fellow countryman Karen Khachanov in his opening match but looked far more comfortable against the Belgian in Doha.
Medvedev joins Grigor Dimitrov as the only two men born in 1990 or later to win 300+ matches on the hard-court surface. Dimitrov has collected 312 match wins on the surface, with the current world No 6 sitting at 300.
The former US Open champion collected his first win on a hard court back in 2016 against Kazakh Alexander Bublik at St. Petersburg Open and quickly made inroads on the surface. Two years later, in 2018, he led the ATP tour that year with 38 match wins, and tied with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Karen Khachanov for most hard-court titles with three.
In 2019, he reached a stunning six consecutive hard-court finals – including titles at Washington, Cincinnati, St. Petersberg, and Shanghai.
His hard-court success is further highlighted in comparison to his record on grass and clay courts. Medvedev’s possesses a 74% win percentage on the surface, compared to 67% on the slick grass, and 55% on the red brick of the clay courts.
All six of the Russian’s Grand Slam finals have also been on hard courts, with his sole Grand Slam trophy occurring at the 2021 US Open – having not reached beyond the semi-finals at Wimbledon, or the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
“Competition is a drug,” Medvedev said after his second-round match at the Qatar Open.
“Competition is adrenaline. A lot of things I do even outside of tennis is a competition. Sometimes video games. Sometimes something less. Sometimes arguing with my wife about who’s right. Competition is my life. I love it. Other than that, it’s going to be tough to find more things to enjoy when you have two kids and when you’ve already played some years. Competition is the most important for me.”
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Whilst Dimitrov and Medvedev lead that age category for hard-court wins, they are closely followed by Alexander Zverev with 281 match wins, whilst Milos Raonic is in fourth with 264 wins.
World No 10 Andrey Rublev sits in fifth place with 244 hard-court wins, with David Goffin and Stefanos Tsitsipas following behind with 221 and 210 victories, respectively.
Kei Nishikori doesn’t quite match the list, despite having more than 300 hard-court match wins – being born just three days before the decade began.
Daniil Medvedev will next face Auger-Aliassime in the last eight of the Qatar Open. The Canadian won their last meeting, however, that victory came on the clay, with the Russian winning their other six matches – which took place on his beloved hard-court surface.
