The former king of hard courts suffers another first-round exit! Can his furious racket smashing jolt him back to form?

The US Open’s opening day brought shocking news: the defending champion Medvedev was eliminated in the first round!

Recently, a fan’s prediction about this year’s Grand Slam men’s singles champions amazed everyone by correctly forecasting the winners of the first three majors and even the finalists.

But he failed on the very first day of the US Open! Medvedev, who was predicted to reach the final alongside Zverev and ultimately win the title, once again faced his nemesis Bonzi. After losing the first two sets, Medvedev narrowly escaped match point in the third set thanks to external factors, but despite an early break in the final set, he was ultimately eliminated by his opponent!

Statistics show this is Medvedev’s worst Grand Slam performance in a single season since 2017. What happened eight years ago? Bonzi was involved back then too!

2017: Australian Open first round, French Open first round (lost to Bonzi), Wimbledon second round, US Open first round

2025: Australian Open second round, French Open first round, Wimbledon first round (lost to Bonzi), US Open first round (lost to Bonzi)

How similar! Only one match won in each of the four tournaments! And Bonzi appears among the opponents who defeated him! The only difference is that old and new grudges unfolded simultaneously, with Bonzi eliminating him back-to-back in the first rounds of Wimbledon and the US Open!

Judging by Medvedev’s post-match racket smashing, he must be carrying a lot of frustration. Indeed! As a player who has reached the pinnacle of glory, enjoyed being world number one, and won Grand Slam titles, now in his prime, how did he become someone so frequently targeted and defeated?

Two years ago, just as people celebrated Medvedev’s dislike of clay courts, his first career clay title came at a Masters event. Who would have thought this would be his last championship to date, marking a drought of nearly two years without a title!

Looking at last year’s Grand Slam results, Medvedev’s decline is obvious. His records were: Australian Open runner-up, French Open round of 16, Wimbledon semi-finalist, and US Open quarter-finalist.

He was reversed by Sinner at the Australian Open, lost to Demin at the French Open, managed to beat Sinner once at Wimbledon but was defeated by Auger-Aliassime in the semis, and suffered a heavy loss to Sinner at the US Open. Overall, his defeats came against players ranked at least in the top fifteen worldwide. Demin briefly entered the top ten, while the “twin stars” have shared recent Grand Slam titles.

If losing to them was somewhat understandable, then this year’s consecutive defeats by top 100 players can’t simply be blamed on skill gaps. Especially since Medvedev’s mindset clearly isn’t on the court anymore, as shown by his repeated attempts to use off-court incidents to pressure his opponent during the match—behavior unworthy of a top player.

The former hard-court demon, the only 90s-born active Grand Slam men’s singles champion, has fallen so far—where will he go from here?(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Luo Cheng Qiye)