The novelist Henry James once noted that, “It’s a complex fate, being an American.” But perhaps in today’s world, that’s more the case for Russia, as demonstrated by the case of two excellent Russians, Daniil Medvedev (No. 5) and Andrey Rublev (No. 8).
Rivals and friends since childhood–Rublev is the godfather of Medvedev’s daughter–these two have each had excellent careers, collectively winning 36 ATP Tour singles titles.
But despite reaching the ATP Tour Finals once again, throughout 2024, each showed signs of emotional fragility. Rublev’s self-directed anger has been frequent, Medvedev’s poor behavior more intermittent.
Still, the sight of Medvedev having a tantrum during his first match at this year’s ATP Finals was disturbing.
“I had a meltdown because every match I go, I usually go with a willingness to fight ’til the end to win,” Medvedev said last week in Turin. “When it doesn’t work your way, I get frustrated sometimes.”
One awaits how these two longstanding top tenners will seek to improve and conduct themselves in 2025. Will Rublev round out his forceful groundstrokes with more versatility? Medvedev took more steps to improve his net game in the last 12 months. How will that play out next year?
