Daniil Medvedev identifies ‘turning point’ in finding form before Australian Open

Daniil Medvedev has said his split from long-term coach Gilles Cervara was a “turning point” as the two-time Australian Open runner-up returns to Melbourne having rediscovered his form following a difficult 2025 season.

Former world No 1 Medvedev failed to advance past the second round of a grand slam last season and his split from French coach Cervara came after an extraordinary on-court meltdown during his first-round defeat at the US Open in August.

But Medvedev then ended his two-year title drought at the Almaty Open towards the end of last season while working with new coaches Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke, before winning the 22nd title of his career at the Brisbane International in the Australian Open warm-up event.

“It was, of course, a big decision in my life with Gilles,” Medvedev said. “In the end, it was the moment to do it, the turning point. It helped me a lot.

“I have loved working with Thomas and Rohan. We were first on a trial period until the end of the season. But I love working with them. I do think they love working with me, so we decided to continue. Hopefully it can be a long one and a great one.

“That's basically it. They are different people, so it's a different style of coaching and different style of practices, everything, but we have a lot of fun. It's working great. I'm feeling great on the court.

“They also could go into detail straightaway of what they saw that was missing at that moment, because it was after US Open, and how maybe we can get back where I want to be.”

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Medvedev, a former US Open champion, has lost both of his Australian Open finals from two sets up, first to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and then to Jannik Sinner in 2024. He is seeded 11th for this year’s tournament.

With victory in Brisbane, Medvedev continued his extraordinary run of winning all of his tour-level titles in different cities, with the 22nd title of his career coming in the 22nd different location.

He said becoming a two-time champion somewhere is his main goal in of 2026, after attempting to dislodge the Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner duopoly of the grand slam titles at the Australian Open.

“I usually say that my goal is to play good tennis. That's the most important. When I play my best tennis, I can win titles, I can win grand slams, I can be in final of grand slams, Masters 1000s, and all this.

“But now my goal is to win a second title somewhere in the city where I already won. It's a clear goal. I'm saying it out loud. I'm not sure to achieve it, but I'm going to do my best to try to do it. Here we're in Melbourne, so I hope to get to 23 before I get a second somewhere.”