They called Art Larsen, winner of the 1950 US Championships, “Tappy,” for his habit of touching anything and anyone in reach for good luck. (The Californian also regularly conversed with an imaginary bird on his shoulder.)
The bearded-and-braided Torben Ulrich, a Davis Cup hero in his native Denmark (and father to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich), always looked at life a little differently; tennis’ answer to free-form jazz.
Whitney Reed, who had wins over the likes of Hall of Famers Rod Laver and Roy Emerson, had an assortment of trick shots up his sleeve, and delighted in the behind-the-back winner long before the birth of Nick Kyrgios or the advent of the Sabatweeny.
Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champ and coach to everyone from Marin Cilic to Novak Djokovic, claimed to have three personalities: Good Goran, Bad Goran and Emergency Goran.
Despite its buttoned-up, country club roots, tennis has long been a sport of characters, a haven for the unorthodox. Maybe that’s why we’ve grown so fond of Daniil Medvedev. When the Russian first stormed into our collective consciousness in 2019, reeling off six straight finals, highlighted by a nearly five-hour-long, five-set title match against Rafael Nadal at the US Open, we knew we were seeing something different, something special. I mean, who else would stand up to a stadium full of New Yorkers, inviting them, finger to ear, to bring on the Bronx Cheers?
But it was a delightful villainy that the Muscovite brought to the court; a beautiful unorthodoxy. And, as we discovered, he had the game to match. His forehand almost had an antediluvian look about it; an old-school short backswing, somehow stiff, but also heavy and effective. His serve was deceptive, and he could hit you off the court from the backhand side. He was almost against the wall on the return. None of it looked like the stuff your local teaching pro would endorse.
At times, you could almost see him strategizing, like a good chess master, thinking two or three moves ahead. He was more than happy to get into an extended baseline exchange, running his opponent from corner to corner.
When things weren’t going according to plan, Medvedev would bark toward his player’s box -- his coach, Frenchman Gilles Cervara, and his wife, Daria, taking the brunt of it.
“His game is like his personality. Very different.” Gilles Cervara, Medvedev's coach
“His game is like his personality. Very different,” confided Cervara, as Medvedev made his push toward the final that year, his first at a major. “It’s like coaching a genius. Sometimes a genius, you don’t understand them. It’s like this. They are different. And you have to connect to this guy like he is.”
He has since become a second-week regular in Flushing Meadows. Back into the US Open semifinals for the third consecutive year, Medvedev — the first world No. 2 not named Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray in more than a decade-and-a-half — has taken out Richard Gasquet, Dominik Koepfer, Pablo Andujar, Daniel Evans and surprise quarterfinalist Botic van de Zandschulp, and will next face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“I will tell you, it looks very unorthodox,” said Brit Daniel Evans of Medvedev’s game, following a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 dismissal in the Round of 16. “He’s hitting the ball pretty big, very close to the lines, great serve. I think the serve, for me, is the thing that’s a bit underrated. He goes through his service games very quickly. And everyone knows how well he moves.”
Asked what he learned should he ever face Medvedev again, Evans grinned: “You’re looking at the draw hoping he’s nowhere near me for the rest of my days.”
Auger-Aliassime himself knows that he has his work cut out for him.
“I need to be ready for his best,” said the 21-year-old, who’s into the first major semifinal of his career. “I need to lace my shoes really well, too, because there’s going to be a lot of running.”
That upstart we were introduced to two years ago? The one with the unorthodox game? He’s become one of the ATP’s most consistent performers. In fact, Medvedev leads all comers in hard-court titles (11), finals (16) and wins (145) since 2018. Will he add to that tally on Friday in New York?
