Connection court: in what form do our tennis players approach the US Open
The leaders of Russian tennis are approaching the start of this year's last Grand Slam tournament, the US Open, not in the best shape. Daniil Medvedev won only one match out of four after Wimbledon, and on Wednesday, August 26, he unexpectedly lost to 92nd racket of the world Martin Damm in Winston-Salem. Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov performed unsuccessfully at the hard-court masters, having won only one victory between them in Montreal and Cincinnati. The leading Russian tennis players, with the exception of Diana Schneider, are not doing well either. Therefore, before the start of the US Open, it is difficult to count on the successful performance of all the leaders of the national team, although Mirra Andreeva and Rublev have already managed to score a winning move in the mixed.
Medvedev didn't make a move before the US Open
Daniil Medvedev came to Winston-Salem for additional match practice before the US Open, but managed to play only one match at the ATP 250 tournament. The Russian, who was seeded number one and missed the opening round, lost to American Martin Damm in 1 hour and 22 minutes in the second round. (5:7, 3:6). This defeat is unpleasant not only in itself: for the sake of a trip to North Carolina, the 30-year-old Russian refused the money mix at the US Open, and came to the start of the marathon at his most successful Slam with only one victory in the last three meetings.
All this is happening against the background of another restructuring of Daniel's headquarters. Last year, amid the failures at the TBSH, Medvedev ended an eight-year collaboration with French coach Gilles Servara. In the fall of 2025, Swede Thomas Johansson and Australian Rohan Gotzke joined the Russian team. The effect was noticeable: Daniil won the tournament in Almaty, then took the titles in Brisbane and Dubai, reached the final of the Masters in Indian Wells and the semifinals in Rome. However, then a new stage of the crisis began, and in July 2026, Medvedev eventually fired Johansson.
Our athlete invited Andrey Golubev, the former 33rd racket of the world, who once played for Russia and Kazakhstan, to the American series. "We will try... Cincinnati is currently planning the US Open. Let's see what happens," Medvedev said in mid—August. So far, the first results of the new collaboration do not answer the main question: has the former world number one managed to stop another recession?
Back in the summer of 2025, the famous veteran Evgeny Kafelnikov harshly assessed the prospects of the former first racket of the world, saying that Daniil's stellar days were over. The following months partially refuted this forecast — Medvedev won three tournaments and returned to the top 10. But the current episode brings sad thoughts again. At the 2026 Australian Open, the Russian reached the fourth round, lost in the first at Roland Garros, and in the third at Wimbledon. After the setback in London, Medvedev's streak without the quarterfinals of the majors reached seven tournaments in a row.
What can Medvedev expect in New York?
With all the problems, Medvedev's position in front of New York cannot be called hopeless. He is seventh in the ATP rankings with 3,580 points. The main advantage is that there is almost no need to defend points at the 2026 US Open: a year ago, Daniil lost to Benjamin Bonzi in the first round and received only 10 points. Therefore, a successful tournament at Flushing Meadows will give an almost net increase.
The fourth round of the Slam now brings 200 points, the quarterfinals - 400, the semifinals - 800. Without taking into account the results of the competitors, this would mean for Medvedev about 3770 points for reaching the 1/8 finals, 3970 for the quarterfinals and 4370 for the semifinals. On the other hand, Daniil has a small margin in the top 10: Alex de Minaur is currently eighth with 3560 points, Taylor Fritz is ninth with 3375, Flavio Cobolli is tenth with 3330. So the minimum task for a Russian in New York is to stay in the top ten and keep his chances of reaching the top eight in the final tournament. Indeed, with the current depressed mood, a rating failure can completely unsettle Medvedev.
The US Open remains Medvedev's most successful Slam: he became champion here in 2021 and played in the finals twice, in 2019 and 2023. Fast hard suits his tennis, although recently we have seen that Daniel's level of play can be critically affected by balls, weather, bounce nuances, and general mental state. So the status of one of the favorites of the US Open would now look like too generous an advance for Medvedev. However, there have been many times in the history of tennis when a player has failed a tournament on the eve of a major, and then caught the courage to win.
In general, Medvedev has a chance to avoid an early flight to New York. This is important because in the fall he will have to defend points for the semifinals in Beijing and Shanghai, the title in Alma Ata and the quarterfinals in Paris. The US Open is the best chance to build up a margin before this competitive block.
"Daniil is going through a difficult period,— Olympic champion Elena Vesnina told Izvestia. — He even showed up for a small tournament in Winston-Salem. This is atypical for him, I don't remember the last time Medvedev showed up for an ATP 250 tournament. Of course, his performance at this tournament is unfortunate, to put it mildly, especially on the eve of the US Open. He hoped to get in shape and get some positive results from the matches he won. Daniel is well prepared physically, but it is difficult for him psychologically. He just can't show what he's capable of, plus the opponents are well attuned to him. Let's hope that Medvedev will attend the US Open. He is a player of big tournaments, matches and stadiums and shows his best tennis in such conditions.
Rublev and Andreeva caught the courage in the mix
Daniil Medvedev was announced for the US Open mixed doubles tournament with Diana Schneider. The mixed show is held in New York on August 24-26, meaning the competition directly overlapped with Winston-Salem. After receiving a wild card for the modest ATP 250 tournament, Medvedev withdrew from the mixed, sacrificing substantial prize money ($ 40 thousand just for playing in the main draw, quarterfinalists are entitled to a fee of $ 120 thousand, and champions — a million for two). And Schneider eventually teamed up with Kasper Ruud and reached the quarterfinals with him, where they were stopped by the Russian pair Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev.
In their first joint match, Rublev and Andreeva dethroned two-time US Open mixed doubles champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. In the decisive tie-break, both pairs failed to realize their match points, but it was Rublev who added when the Russians found themselves in a difficult situation. Andrey won a point on the opponents' match ball with the score 9:8, then made an ace, and after that he brilliantly completed the draw, being ready to serve Errani from below and putting the winning point with a forehand from above.
Andreeva and Rublev easily took the first game in about 20 minutes with a score of 4:1. But in the second set, Diana and her Norwegian teammate came to their senses, forced the fight and brought the matter to a tiebreak. In it, Mirra and Andrey missed four match points and eventually lost a very long set by the standards of the current format 4:5 (9:11). In the third game, it's time for another tie-break. The audience saw a 17-shot draw, but in the end, on the fifth match ball, Andreeva and Rublev scored a tie-break victory (10:5), and with it, an exit to the semifinals. For a ticket to the finals, the Russian duo will face Karolina Mukhova and Yakub Menshik.
In singles and men's doubles, Andrey has never reached the semifinals of the TBSH. He has lost 10 single quarterfinals to his credit. But the mix at the 2026 US Open unexpectedly allowed us to close this gestalt and "lift the curse."
Hopefully, such an inspired game will help both of our top players in the main draw.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
