World No 3 Daniil Medvedev says his motivation is at an all-time high as he gets ready to begin his 11th season as a professional.
The 27-year-old Russian won a maiden Grand Slam trophy at the US Open in 2021, and has spent a total of 16 weeks at the top of the world rankings.
He owns 20 titles overall and earned more than $38 million in career prize money, but despite his lengthy list of accomplishments, Medvedev assures his hunger for more remains a major driving force, even if maintaining high levels of motivation becomes more challenging with age.
“Everyone is going to have a different motivation for different reasons. And I'll be honest, last two years, even last year, when I had an amazing run, I felt like I was changing. It’s normal.
“Getting older, you know, I'm not any more 23 and going for my first big title and I'm like, ‘OK, I want to do more’,” said Medvedev in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of the World Tennis League exhibition event.
“So at this stage of my life, at least right now, I hope this can last for a long time. I have just the biggest motivation ever to just continue finding my limits, to just go for more. Try to be even more professional, try to fight harder, be better on the court.
“Because at the end of the season, I was a little bit too much all over the place because I was mentally tired. So I'm going to try to do all of this better next year and hopefully I can become a better player.”
Earlier this year, following a third-round defeat in the Australian Open, Medvedev dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since July 2019 – a shocking dip for a player who was ranked No 1 just 12 months earlier.
“I would say I was kind of disappointed with myself, and that’s not an easy feeling,” Medvedev said earlier in the season when reflecting on that period.
His reaction to it was swift though as Medvedev won his next 19 consecutive matches, picking up three straight titles – he won five overall in 2023 – and he was back in the top three by April.
After a campaign highlighted by a runner-up showing at the US Open, a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon, and a surprise title run on clay in Rome, Medvedev has firmly reestablished himself among the world’s best as an all-surface beast.
While Novak Djokovic reigned supreme in three of the four majors in 2023 and was one victory away from completing the elusive calendar-year Grand Slam, the Serb wasn’t the sole protagonist throughout the season.
Carlos Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and the duo traded places at the summit of the rankings on multiple occasions. Together with Medvedev and Jannik Sinner, the top four engaged in some of the most exciting battles of the year and shared the spoils outside the Grand Slams.
Medvedev faced off with Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner a combined 12 times in 2023, winning four of those encounters, and as a group, the quartet separated themselves from the rest of the field.
Can we expect them to dominate even more in 2024?
“For sure if we take last year and many, many different tournaments, we did separate a little bit from the rest at one point of the season and especially at the end, regarding the points,” acknowledged Medvedev.
“But I do think that this also shows that every season can be different. Stefanos [Tsitsipas] made a final in Australian Open; for different reasons had a tougher end of the season, but he can come back there and pass me, Sinner or Carlos or Novak, anyone.
“So I would be still careful with something like this. I myself was out of top 10 last year, in the beginning of the season.
“The only thing we're sure is Novak is always there. I could be out of 10, Novak is always there. So hopefully I can be part of this top four and whoever the other three guys and I'm going to try to do it.”
In a season where he won 66 of the 84 matches he contested, the biggest revelation was Medvedev’s form on clay – a surface he has always openly disliked.
With wins over fellow top-10ers Tsitsipas and Holger Rune en route, the Russian claimed the first clay-court title of his career at the Masters 1000 in Rome in May.
Clay will play an even bigger role in the tennis calendar next year with the players heading twice to Roland Garros, once for the French Open and again for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Medvedev is feeling more confident on the red dirt but believes the multiple surface-swaps will pose a major challenge for the players.
“Even if I proved it to myself this year, 100 per cent, that I can be a very good clay-court player, I feel like I'm struggling a little bit, and that was the case throughout all my career, to change surfaces,” he confessed.
“And this year we know it's hard, clay, grass, clay, hard. So it's going to be a challenge. Calendar is not easy, but it's the same for everyone.
“Again, I have big motivation to be even stronger physically to manage to handle the season until the end. And hopefully I can have a lot of great tournaments. Cannot win all of them, so I will try to win some.”
The tennis world is eagerly anticipating the return of Rafael Nadal, who is due to compete for the first time since January at next month’s Brisbane International, after a year-long hip injury hiatus.
Asked what challenge Nadal poses to the rest of the field, Medvedev said: “It's kind of the same like with Novak; it's just that all the seasons that he played he wins a lot of matches and doesn't lose many. It's very tough to beat him.
“Actually with Rafa maybe I even had even less success than with Novak in a way. But we had some tight matches where I felt like I could win and maybe he got the edge in the end. So for me it's going to be a great challenge if I have to face him.
“I don't know at the moment his shape, no one knows, and how he's going to handle. But from what I saw, he seems to be doing good and that's great for tennis.”
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Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps
Audio: Stereo speakers
Biometrics: Touch ID
I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)
Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular
Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue
Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
RESULTS
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.
Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.
Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.
Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Results:
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 2,000m - Winner: Powderhouse, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh165,000 2,200m - Winner: Heraldic, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Conditions Dh240,000 1,600m - Winner: Walking Thunder, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
8.15pm: Handicap Dh190,000 2,000m - Winner: Key Bid, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 1,200m - Winner: Drafted, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
9.25pm: Handicap Dh170,000 1,600m - Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh190,000 1,400m - Winner: Rodaini, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Atalanta v Juventus (6pm)
AC Milan v Napoli (9pm)
Torino v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Sunday
Bologna v Parma (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Lazio (6pm)
Roma v Brescia (6pm)
Verona v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Udinese (9pm)
Lecce v Cagliari (11.45pm)
Monday
SPAL v Genoa (11.45pm)
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Try out the test yourself
Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
