Daniil Medvedev reveals why Stan Wawrinka has inspired him more than Djokovic, Nadal and Federer
Daniil Medvedev has singled out the player who inspires him the most from the group of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
The former world No 1 also assessed his chances of winning more Grand Slam titles as he recognised he is going through a challenging spell.
From the 2002 Australian Open to the 2023 French Open, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka were the only five men to win multiple Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic, Nadal and Federer won 24, 22 and 20 majors respectively, while Murray and Wawrinka secured three each.
From Federer‘s first Slam triumph at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships to Djokovic’s most recent at the 2023 US Open, the five legends collected an astonishing 72 of the 81 major trophies on offer.
Medvedev was one of the other nine players to win a single Grand Slam title during this 20-year spell, having beaten Djokovic in the final of the 2021 US Open.
In an interview with the Khaleej Times, Medvedev was asked if Andy Murray’s career inspires him given what he achieved while competing against the Big Three.
“Yeah, Andy also winning the Olympic gold twice was actually crazy. You know, Andy inspires me a lot,” the world No 6 said.
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“But I think Novak inspires me, even if I know I’m not gonna win 24 Grand Slams. Roger inspires me, even if his game was completely the opposite of my game. Rafa is a lefty, but they all inspired me.
“And I would even say Andy, at least for the moment, is not comparable to me, because he won so many tournaments, Masters and all those titles. And I would say that maybe I like someone like Stan [Wawrinka], who won his first (Grand Slam) when he was 29.
“And this is kind of more inspiring, because he was beaten by those guys from time to time, and he was like, ‘okay, but I’m going to do it’. And that’s what I want to do as well. As I said, lately my level has been a bit lower than I expected, but I know what I’m capable of.”
The 29-year-old also addressed his prospects of adding to his Grand Slam tally given the emergence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“I see two points of view. One is, lately it’s been a little bit tough for me. You know, my level has dropped a little bit. I lost more matches than I generally do. So it’s the reality,” Medvedev explained.
“And at the same time, I proved numerous times that when I play my best tennis, when in my best shape, I can beat anyone.
“And that are my chances if I manage to come back to my form, I know I did that a little bit in Doha. I want to try to do it here [in Dubai].
“Then I have the chance of winning another Grand Slam or more. If I don’t, then it’s going to be tougher. So I just need to fight, work hard and try to beat some guys that are at the moment stronger than me.”
Medvedev is the top seed at this week’s Dubai Championships, where he is hoping to win his first title since May 2023.
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