Daniil Medvedev has described his split from long-time coach Gilles Cervara as a 'turning point' in reviving his career, as he returns to Melbourne for the Australian Open having rediscovered his form.
The former world No 1 endured a difficult 2025 season, failing to progress beyond the second round at any grand slam. His separation from Cervara came after an extraordinary on-court meltdown during his first-round defeat at the US Open in August.
Since then, Medvedev has worked with new coaches Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke, ending a two-year title drought at the Almaty Open before claiming the 22nd title of his career at the Brisbane International. '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.'
The 11th seed, who lost both his previous Australian Open finals from two sets up – to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Jannik Sinner in 2024 – praised his new coaching team. 'They are different people, so it's a different style of coaching and different style of practices, but we have a lot of fun,' he said. 'They could also go into detail straightaway of what they saw that was missing at that moment.'
Medvedev, whose streak of winning tour-level titles in 22 different cities continued in Brisbane, has set his sights on ending that quirk. 'My goal is to win a second title somewhere in the city where I already won,' he said. 'Here we're in Melbourne, so I hope to get to 23 before I get a second somewhere.'
