Underrated Traits of the Greats: Daniil Medvedev and reading the room

Welcome to Underrated Week! From May 4 through 8, TENNIS.com is focusing on the most overlooked aspects of the sport, from stats to achievements to tactics, and beyond. We're also featuring 10 players because of something they do extremely well, but which isn't their signature quality. It's a series we're calling the Underrated Traits of the Greats.

On most nights, tennis and pro wrestling don’t have much in common. In tennis, the players are expected to be reserved, and the audience is expected to maintain a polite silence during the action. In wrestling, they are…not expected to do either of these things.

It isn’t often that these two polar-opposite activities cross paths, but if there’s any place where it’s going to happen, it’s probably going to be New York City. That’s where, at last year’s US Open, Daniil Medvedev made Louis Armstrong Stadium into his personal wrestling ring. After chucking his racquet, ripping a towel out of a ball kid’s hands, and covertly giving the chair umpire the finger on camera, Medvedev was booed by the night-session crowd during his third-round match.

Instead of hanging his head in shame, Medvedev, like any good wrestling heel, reveled in the abuse. After coming back to win, he motioned for the fans to keep the boos coming, strutted his way to the net for the handshake, and trolled the crowd in his post-match interview.

“If you were not here guys, I’d probably lose the match, because I was so tired, I was cramping yesterday, it was so tough for me to play,” Medvedev said, as boos continued to rain down. "So I want all of you to know when you sleep tonight I won because of you.”

A star, or anti-star, had been born.

Medvedev’s heel turn was the high point of a summer in which he put men’s tennis on his back and carried it for a few months. The 23-year-old Russian reached finals in Washington, D.C., Montreal and at the US Open, and won titles in Cincinnati, St. Petersburg and Shanghai. By August, he was ranked in the Top 5; by October he was looking like a future No. 1.

What may have been most interesting about Medvedev’s breakthrough run was watching him learn how to read a room, and react to the moment. In New York, he played the bad guy when it suited him, before turning back into a good and gracious loser after his close final-round defeat to Rafael Nadal. In Cincinnati, down a set to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, Medvedev suddenly began to go for huge, risky second serves; the strategy disrupted Djokovic’s return rhythm and helped Medvedev come back to win. The next day, against David Goffin in the final, Medvedev went in the opposite direction. He played the percentages, stayed patient through 20- and 30-shot rallies, and wore Goffin down from the baseline. That tactic worked, too.

As a player, Medvedev has a mature court sense for someone so young. He can win with consistency, by throwing in backhand after backhand until the other guy finally breaks down. Or, if his opponent comes in, Medvedev can shift to shotmaker mode and win with a brilliantly precise passing shot. He can give his opponent no pace to work with during one rally, and then turn around and rocket a forehand winner past him to end the next one.

As a person, of course, Medvedev has not always read the room so well. At a Challenger event in 2016, he appeared to accuse Donald Young and an African-American chair umpire of being “friends” and working against him (he was defaulted). At Wimbledon the following year, he tried to have chair umpire Mariana Alves removed from his second-round match; after he lost, he took out his wallet and threw coins at her chair.

“In the heat of the moment, I did a bad thing,” Medvedev said. “I apologize for this.”

There may be more outbursts in Medvedev’s future, but he has made an effort to control himself. His all-around showing at last year’s Open can be a seen as a clever way to transform a potentially disastrous tirade into a winning performance. By the end of 2019, Medvedev had left his villain persona behind completely and removed all outward emotion from his demeanor. Even after big victories, he kept his poker face intact.

Will Medvedev be able to maintain that impassive facade when the tours return? Is that even the best way for him to play? Chances are, he’ll continue to evolve, continue to throw different looks at his opponents and his audiences, and continue to be a fascinating player to follow.

UNDERRATED TRAITS OF THE GREATS: Roger Federer—Winning ugly | Simona Halep—Boldness | Rafael Nadal—When to come to net | Sofia Kenin—Variety | Pete Sampras—Movement | Serena Williams—Plan B | Novak Djokovic—Forehand versatility | Chris Evert—Athleticism | Daniil Medvedev—Reading the room | Naomi Osaka—Return of serve

RANKINGS: The five most underrated tennis stats | The five most underrated No. 1s | The five most underrated Grand Slam runs

YOUR GAME: Why mental strength is underrated | Five underrated tennis tactics