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27-year-old is first player to win consecutive tour-level titles in 2023
Daniil Medvedev maintained his red-hot February form on Saturday to power to victory at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where the third seed prevailed 6-4, 6-4 against Andy Murray to claim the title on tournament debut in Doha.

Medvedev made a fast start in both sets to complete his one-hour, 47-minute victory in a battle between two former World No. 1s, opening up a 4-1 lead in the first and a 3-1 lead in the second. Murray, who won all four of his previous matches in Doha this week in three sets, reclaimed a break in each set, but Medvedev denied another comeback for the 35-year-old to clinch his 17th tour-level title.

“[It was] a tough match,” said Medvedev after his win. “It was a little bit windy today, so both of us were struggling to find our rhythm… Today was a big fight for both of us. Sometimes we were playing bad, then suddenly both of us were playing amazing, and I’m happy to win.”


Having also triumphed in Rotterdam last week, Medvedev is the first player to clinch back-to-back singles titles in the 2023 ATP Tour season. On Monday, the 27-year-old will leapfrog Rafael Nadal to No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as a result of his Doha title run.

“I managed to find momentum in Rotterdam,” said Medvedev, when asked about his recent form. “The first two matches I played there were tough. I didn’t feel good before that tournament, and then starting in the quarter-finals against Felix [Auger-Aliassime], I started to find my rhythm.

“I started to play really good. Serve better, move better. Today it was tough for Andy to put the balls through me many times, and now the question is [if it] can continue. I’m going to try as long as I can.”

Despite falling just short of winning his first ATP Tour title since 2019, Murray rose 18 spots to No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings thanks to his string of marathon wins in Doha. The Briton will look to build on his form next week, when he and Medvedev both join the field at the ATP 500 event in Dubai.

“It was an incredible week,” reflected Murray, who was playing in a record fifth final in Doha. “Obviously it didn’t finish how I wanted, but I had some amazing matches here, created some great memories. It was fantastic to be back in a final here again and against an incredible player today.

“Daniil is one of my favourite players to watch and one of the best players on the Tour. It’s great for me to get that opportunity to play against someone of his level in a final again. [There are] definitely some things to work on, but I’m proud of my week and the work that me and my team have put in to get me back to this stage.”


Medvedev entered Saturday’s final having not dropped a set against Murray in the pair’s two previous ATP Head2Head meetings. In Doha, he started confidently against the Briton once again, opening a double-break lead at 4-1 by staying solid while Murray struggled to find his best level.

However, as he had in each of his victories this week, the Briton demonstrated resilience when under pressure. Murray began to match Medvedev in the longer rallies, with the 46-time tour-level titlist striking his backhand particularly cleanly. He reclaimed one of the breaks and held another break point at 4-5, but Medvedev held firm to move ahead.

The defining feature of Medvedev’s recent form has been his relentlessness from the baseline, and his retrieving abilities helped him break Murray’s serve again in the first game of the second set. Although Murray again rallied, levelling for 3-3 with some inspired defence on break point, another decisive break for Medvedev in the ninth game helped extend his winning streak to nine tour-level matches.

The windy conditions may have contributed to an uncharacteristic six double faults for Medvedev, but the third seed saved five of seven break points he faced to improve his season record to 14-2. Sixteen of his 17 tour-level titles have now come on hard courts.

Steal Score, forehand shot quality keys to success in Rotterdam and Doha
Daniil Medvedev didn’t take too kindly to falling outside the Top 10 following the Australian Open.

Since he debuted in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in July 2019, Medvedev had not spent a day outside the exclusive club until a straight-sets loss to Sebastian Korda in Melbourne saw him tumble from No. 8 to No. 12 after the year’s first major. That dropped like a punch in the guts.

But it was more than just the loss of his 2022 Australian Open finalist points that underpinned the former World No. 1’s exit from the Top 10. After four titles, including the US Open, and a 63-13 record in 2021, Medvedev went 45-19 last year with just two titles. [He did miss the clay season, save for Roland Garros, after a hernia operation.]

The man nicknamed ‘Bear’ responded to his Australian Open disappointment by winning consecutive titles at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam and the ATP 250 in Doha. This week in Dubai he will attempt for the first time in his career to win three consecutive titles.

“The defeat [in five sets to Nadal] at the Aussie Open last year was a killer,” said former World No. 4 and esteemed coach and analyst Brad Gilbert. “He also had some other things going on and he wasn’t the same player he’d been. After watching him at these last two tournaments, he looks like the same guy that was winning so much. To me the biggest thing is that his confidence is back.”

Medvedev agreed that his confidence is now sky high. "I'm really happy with the last two weeks. I have a lot of confidence going, which is a good thing,” he said Monday in Dubai. “You can find confidence fast and unexpectedly. It can happen the same to lose it. I played a great level in both Rotterdam and Doha and am now looking forward to Dubai.”


A TennisViz analysis for Tennis Data Innovations of Medvedev’s back-to-back title run in Rotterdam and Doha shows how he has recaptured and even exceeded his 2021 form in two key areas: winning points from defensive positions (Steal Score) and forehand shot quality. (Shot Quality is calculated in real-time by analysing each shot's speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent.)

In 2021 Medvedev won an impressive 38 per cent of points after finding himself in a defensive position during the point. That dipped to 34 per cent in 2022. Medvedev’s aggregate Steal Score during his nine-match winning streak in Rotterdam and Doha has been an off-the-charts 43 per cent.

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“He’s always been a great defensive player; he doesn’t move like a typical guy of that height,” Gilbert said. “He’s like a 6’ 6” wing guy in the NBA. Zverev might move as well as Medvedev but he doesn’t play as good defence. Sometimes we say someone defends well just because they are fast, but it’s more than that. It’s about balance and the ability to do things on the run. Medvedev is probably second behind Djokovic as the best player on tour on the run.”

The TDI analysis also reveals that Medvedev lifted his forehand shot quality from 8.0 in 2022 to 8.3 in Rotterdam and Doha.

Medvedev's Forehand Fires Up!

Metric 2022 Rotterdam & Doha
Avg. Speed 73.5mph 74.5 mph
Avg. spin 2308 RPM 2470 RPM
Forehands Made 88.9% 91%
“So goes his offensive forehand, so goes his game,” Gilbert said. “He’s got a sneaky good forehand from the centre of the court. It’s different to Rafa’s or Fed’s – he scoots into the court, hits it low and flat – but it’s a very important shot.

“As a big server, it’s also important to have the forehand working for the one-twos, or as some say the Serve +1. His game goes to another level when he gets more of those.”

Medvedev will be looking to use his current confidence to atone for a modest 1-2 record in two prior appearances in Dubai. He is seeded to meet Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

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Tennis Data Innovations seeks to deliver next generation insights to fans, media and players with the help of @TennisViz.

Daniil Medvedev extended his winning streak to 10 matches when he cruised past Italian lucky loser Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round in Dubai.

The third seed has been in red-hot form in February, capturing consecutive titles on hard courts in Rotterdam and Doha. Full of confidence, Medvedev quickly made his mark against Arnaldi, striking 20 winners to seal victory after one hour and 31 minutes.

"It is never easy playing someone you have never seen before," Medvedev said. "I actually didn't know how he plays, if he plays aggressive or defensive. It was kind of in the middle. It was not easy in the beginning, I played better in the second set. He is young, he had good results in Challengers. When it is like this you have the potential to be very high, but you never know if it is going to happen, so I can only wish him luck."

The World No. 7, who is competing in Dubai for the first time since a first-round exit in 2019, will next meet Alexander Bublik. The World No. 46 Bublik advanced after Bulgarian qualifier Alexandar Lazarov retired when trailing 1-6, 0-1.

The 22-year-old Arnaldi competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan last year. He won his second ATP Challenger Tour title last month and was aiming to earn his first tour-level win against Medvedev.

Djokovic will be fully focused on the match in front of him though. He will face Medvedev, who ousted eighth seed Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in the last match of the day. The third seed won the final 21 points of the match to send a message to his next opponent.

"To win 21 points in a row, I don’t know if that’s my personal record on the ATP Tour," Medvedev said. "I managed to hit some lines, I managed to play good. Borna was missing a little bit, but generally happy with my level, I’m happy with the ending of the match for sure."

Medvedev will try to overcome a 4-9 ATP Head2Head deficit against Djokovic, who is not the only one bringing good form into the match. The 27-year-old has won back-to-back titles in Rotterdam and Doha, and is trying for a third in Dubai. He is on a 12-match winning streak and has not dropped a set this week.

"I'm playing good right now," Medvedev said. "But when you play Novak, Novak is always the favourite."