“It’s a shame” – Daniil Medvedev makes brutally honest admission after heartbreaking loss to World No. 85 at Cincinnati Open

Daniil Medvedev admitted to underperforming his own expectations after losing to Australian player Adam Walton in the second round of the Cincinnati Open. The Russian has struggled to find his rhythm this year, having suffered early exits in the Grand Slams and failing to bag any Tour-level titles.

Medvedev recorded his 300th hardcourt win in the last 16 of the 2025 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the second man born in or after 1990 to achieve the feat after Grigor Dimitrov. He reached the Indian Wells semifinals and the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open, and posted his best result at the Halle Open, where he advanced to the final before falling to Alexander Bublik.

Medvedev aimed for a better Cincinnati Open campaign this year, having ended his 2024 bid at the hands of Jiří Lehečka in the second round. However, he recorded another underwhelming result, being defeated by Adam Walton and leaving the second-last lap of the North American swing in the second round.

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After the loss, Daniil Medvedev shared his frustration but remained optimistic that he could turn things around soon.

"It's a real shame, it's a difficult time for me, but such is tennis. All you can do is look for a way out. I haven't found one yet. Apparently, I'm far from it. But one day, I will find it."

The 29-year-old boasts 20 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including a Grand Slam win at the 2021 US Open.

Daniil Medvedev talked about how he and his team are aiming to take it step by step

Daniil Medvedev used to thrive during the US swing, but has come up short in recent events. This year, he has just won one match in two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. Following his Citi Open run prior to Cincinnati, the Russian addressed his modest form and shared that he and his team have been working to take it one day at a time ahead of the final US summer swing at the Grand Slam.

Medvedev told the ATP Tour:

“It’s very tough in tennis, because I could find 10 reasons and I would not know which one is the main reason. Whatever we do, we just try to improve. So we sat down with the team: Where can we do things better? What can we change? We discussed some things and I’m going to try and implement it."

He added:

“This is the most exciting part of the season, there is hard courts until Miami next year. So I will try to give my best and enjoy it. It’s an opportunity, I want to take it as a challenge of trying to raise my level in the big occasions, trying to go step by step.”

Daniil Medvedev won the ATP Tour Finals in 2020 and reached three Australian Open finals in 2021, 2022, and 2024. He also has two Wimbledon semifinal appearances in 2023 and 2024.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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