Follow us on Google Discover Daniil Medvedev is off to a strong start at the Almaty Open as he continues his impressive run of form with new coaches Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke in his corner.
Following Medvedev’s semifinal run at the Shanghai Masters, he kicked off his Almaty campaign with a straight-sets win over Adam Walton, 7-5, 7-6.
The Russian is featuring in his first event of the indoor hard-court season, after enjoying a largely successful Asian swing, in which he showed promising signs in his pursuit of returning to the world’s top ten.
Medvedev started the 2025 season ranked fifth, but has fallen to as low as ATP number 18, having recorded several early exits at big tournaments.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Now, however, the former world number one looks to be back to his best under the wing of Johansson and Goetzke, whom he appointed after crashing out of the US Open in round one.
Goetzke was present in his player box for the first time in his opening clash at the Almaty Open, a tournament which Medvedev has found it difficult to prepare for.
Daniil Medvedev reacts to first match with Rohan Goetzke present
The competition, played in Kazakhstan, started the day after the Shanghai Masters finished, with Medvedev’s first match coming five days after his semifinal clash with Arthur Rinderknech.
In an interview with ‘More!’ after his triumph over Walton, the 29-year-old said: “It’s very difficult here because the preparation was very crumpled for various reasons.
“This is probably his [Goetzke’s] first ATP tournament in a long time. I flew from Shanghai, and the long flight, the time difference, everything was crumpled for various reasons, so it’s difficult to say yet [how it has gone with Goetzke so far].
“Everything is working well, however. Everything is fine with both Thomas and Rohan. Only time will tell.
“It’s very important that when you work with someone, they see you in life, too. With the way I am on the court, I think very few people would want to work with me, and most likely, Thomas and Rohan would have probably said no.
“Since I only behave like this on the court, and in life I’m a very cool, cheerful, friendly guy with a sense of humour, they understand everything.
“They just try to tell me after the match which moments I went overboard where it could be interfering with my tennis, and which moments, on the contrary, where maybe I need to behave like that.”
Daniil Medvedev’s quarterfinal opponent at the Almaty Open
Medvedev has only played once against his quarterfinal opponent at the Almaty Open, which comes in the form of Fabian Marozsan.
Marozsan, who knocked out the fifth seed Brandon Nakashima, faced Medvedev in the second round of the US Open in 2024.
The Hungarian had no answers for the 2021 champion, however, who beat him in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-2, 7-6.
The two will now meet indoors for the first time, with a place in the semifinals of the ATP 250 competition up for grabs.