INDIAN WELLS/WASHINGTON, March 17, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Daniil Medvedev didn’t win the BNP Paribas Open title Sunday, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
After losing the men’s singles final at Indian Wells for the third time in the past four years on Sunday afternoon, this time 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) against World No. 2 Jannik Sinner, the 30-year-old Medvedev showed he still has plenty of unconventional court brilliance in big matches. After all, less than 24 hours before the final, he brought World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz’s winning streak to an unexpected halt in the semifinals.
Together, against the top two players in men’s tennis today, Medvedev showed a sense of confidence in himself, and with this new mindset has come a sense of revival in his game that is genuine – and enjoyable to watch.
The perfect finish 🔥@DaniilMedwed | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/XYbLnDik2D
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 15, 2026
Medvedev has begun his 2026 season in fine form, going 18-4, while winning a pair of outdoor hard-court titles in Brisbane and Dubai. He came very close beating both Alcaraz and Sinner in back-to-back matches at Indian Wells, something that is rarely done in the same tournament.
“I play 10 matches against Carlos, probably I’m going to lose more than I’m going to win,” Medvedev said on Saturday during his post-match news conference. “But whenever I go on court, I need to believe in myself. I need to try my best and try to win as much as I can.”
UN. REAL 🤯@DaniilMedwed | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/Zkhn0Jk7dy
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 14, 2026
Medvedev’s new-found attitude comes after two disappointing seasons characterized by a sense of burnout and frustration – and plenty of racquet-breaking tantrums. During the 2024-25 seasons, Medvedev won exactly one title. It came last year at an ATP 250 indoor event at Almaty in October, which was his first trophy success since winning the Rome Masters crown in May 2023. The fallout from back-to-back lackluster seasons resulted in Medvedev parting with longtime coach Gilles Cervera, who coached him from 2017 through last summer. He was in Medvedev’s box when the Russian won his only major title at the 2021 US Open and also when the former World No. 1 suffered a disastrous first-round loss to Benjamin Bonzi at the 2025 US Open.
Soon after, a new coaching team, Swede Thomas Johansson and Australian Rohan Goetzke, joined forces in September. They’ve brought knowledge and shared new perspectives with Medvedev – and guess what? They are starting to pay dividends early in the new season.
“We had a great preseason where we worked on a lot of small details, tried to improve the volley a lot,” Medvedev said. “Even if maybe, I don’t need it today or yesterday because I still don’t go a lot, I could need it at one point of the match, at one point of the tournament and stuff like this. We worked a lot on the serve which is working great this year in general. It’s just general stuff. Happy with the way we work with him.”
Medvedev Claims Dubai Title After Griekspoor Withdraws 🏆
Read full article here: https://t.co/YnfoKQB7Hv pic.twitter.com/tv0QmX0ylQ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 28, 2026
Noticeable during his run to the final at Indian Wells – even during his successful run to the title at Dubai before that – has been Medvedev’s sense of aggressiveness on court. While he’s always been known for his deep, unconventional counterpunching approach to hitting his groundstrokes – and his “unique, limbs-akimbo blend of defense and offense” as longtime tennis correspondent Christopher Clarey noted in one of his recent Substack columns – there’s been a sense of positiveness in the way Medvedev has gone about his business on the tennis court.
“It’s an amazing feeling to beat someone like Carlos, No. 1 in the world,” Medvedev said after his 6-3, 7-6 (3) semifinal victory over Alcaraz.
“In a way, when you play him, Jannik, Novak, doesn’t matter the ranking. It’s just a great feeling to play them. And to beat them, of course, is even better.”
The winning moment 🏆@janniksin | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/0IXOVJw3N9
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 15, 2026
Although Medvedev fell short in beating both Alcaraz and Sinner in consecutive matches, Medvedev heads for the Miami Open, another ATP Masters 1000 event, with his confidence in a good place.
“A great tournament, great level, even including today,” Medvedev said during his post-match news conference Sunday. “Of course, a bit disappointed to not have a couple of moments where I could have played better. Jannik is a tremendous player, so tough to play against.
“In general, I’m happy for the week and looking forward to more tennis like this.”
In Miami, Medvedev will be seeded ninth and will open against either No. 92 Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States or 164th-ranked wild card Rei Sakamoto of Japan after a first-round bye. He’s in the same half of the draw as No. 2 seed Sinner. They could meet in the semifinal round.
With Medvedev’s improvement comes a spike up the rankings ladder. On Monday, Medvedev cracked Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since last July at No. 10, up one spot from No. 11. When his new coaching team arrived last fall, he was ranked 18th.
Making their mark 😤 🚀 #PIF | #ATPRankings | #Partner pic.twitter.com/qSJmDwxtnC
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 16, 2026
Meanwhile, after Sinner completed winning his sixth different ATP Masters 1000 hard-court tournament, becoming just the third player along with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to achieve the feat, he spoke positively about Medvedev during his champion’s news conference.
“I feel like he’s playing great, great tennis,” Sinner said. “He was very confident, already winning a couple of titles this year, coming here and then performing very, very well. He played great tennis, serving very well. I struggled to return, especially on the second-serve return.
“I do believe that tennis needs him. He’s a very unique style of playing. Seeing him back at this level, it’s great. He’s improving a lot. Very aggressive player at the end. He has two different game styles when he serves and when he returns. So, you have to face that. It’s great for the sport having him again playing at this level.”
Winners are grinners 😁@DaniilMedwed | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/mRZir8pnmp
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 15, 2026
Looking back at his time spent in the California palm desert, Medvedev has much to be proud of. He knows he can be a good tennis player when he puts his mind to it. After all, he strung together five consecutive straight-set victories over Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, Sebastian Baez of Argentina, Alex Michelsen of the United States, defending champion Jack Draper of Great Britain, and Alcaraz. Then, he gave a very competitive performance despite losing to Sinner in the final.
“I’m happy that this tournament I played good enough to beat all the other guys first, and then even good enough to beat Carlos and then to face Jannik,” Medvedev said. “That’s going to be my goal, not focus on them too much exactly, but focus on improving myself, improving my game, trying to beat all the other guys.
“Then, whenever you have Carlos and Jannik in the tournament, there is a big chance you’re going to meet one of them in the semis, and if you play unbelievable, then one of them in the final. So that’s a goal, and that’s what I’m going to try to continue doing.”
