LONDON, November 18, 2016
Daniil Medvedev capped a breakthrough season with a special honour on Friday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The 20-year-old russian was recognised as the winner of Tecnifibre’s second Young Guns on the Road contest, receiving a cheque for $50,000 during a ceremony a The O2 in London.
Medvedev defeated fellow rising Tecnifibre players Mitchell Krueger, Omar Jasika and Gregoire Barrere in a four-month competition based on on-court results and social media engagement. The Russian has flexed his muscles both on and off the court, enjoying a strong campaign on the ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour, while staying active on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Medvedev has soared up the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2016, joining the #NextGen contingent with a dramatic rise that culminated in his Top 100 debut on Monday. The world No. 98, who entered January at No. 329, is one of just three players (Juan Martin Del Potro, Thiago Monteiro) to jump at least 200 spots to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings this year.
Daniil Medvedev
“This contest brought to me that I broke the Top 100,” Medvedev told Friday in London. “It was a big competition between the four of us and to win it I needed to play my best tennis every week. I tried hard and also improved my social account in order to make my fans happy.”
One of the top performers on the ATP Challenger Tour, he enjoyed a 35-win season, reaching the quarterfinals or better in eight straigtht events to conclude the year. The Moscow native’s signature moment came on the hard courts of Saint-Remy in early September, when he stormed to his maiden title.
“Winning the Challenger title in the last week of the contest probably had a big influence on the results,” he told with a smile. “This money will help me a lot on the tour next year. I am going to invest it in my future career, for coaches, physios … so thanks a lot for everything.”
Medvedev’s success has translated to the tour-level as well, qualifying at five tournaments and earning match wins on all surfaces, including the grass of s’Hertogenbosch, clay of Hamburg and hard courts of St. Petersburg and Moscow. He would notch his biggest win last month at his hometown VTB Kremlin Cup, upsetting World No. 28 Viktor Troicki to advance to his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal.
ATP Renews Contract With Tecnifibre
“We’re renewing our amazing agreement with Tecnifibre for another three years through to 2020. Thank you very much for being our tour partners, the official string here as well,” Chris Kermode told.
“Throughout the year, Tecnifibre, one of the things we’re looking at for brands, is about having a brand, a very strong tennis brand, traditional tennis brand, but also they’re innovative. They’re doing a huge amount of work with the younger kids throughout the whole year. That is a major focus for us to actually have a brand that activates as opposes to just wanting to have branding around a tennis court.”
