When Fonseca won Buenos Aires, various sites posted lists of the youngest players to win ATP titles since 1990. Andrei Medvedev featured prominently, with three titles at age 17 in 1992: (1) Genoa (beating Pérez Roldán in the final); (2) Stuttgart Outdoor (beating Wayne Ferreira in a five set final); and (3) Bordeaux (beating Bruguera in the final).
Then, in 1993, at age 18 (turning 19 on August 31st), Medvedev showed he could be a threat across surfaces, winning Estoril (over Karel Nováček) and Barcelona (again over Bruguera) on clay, making the Halle final on grass (losing to Leconte), winning New Haven on hard courts (over Korda), and making the Bercy final on carpet (losing to Ivanišević). Medvedev was a semifinalist at the French Open (this time losing to eventual champion Bruguera) and also on carpet at WTF (conquering Courier and Chang in the RR stage). At 19 years, 4 months old, he finished #6 in the world.
In 1994, still at age 19, he won both Monte Carlo (again over Bruguera) and Hamburg (over Kafelnikov) to climb to #4 in the world. At the French, he would again lose to Bruguera (this time in the QF), knocking him down to #6. Then, at Wimbledon, he again showed solid grass skills, making the Round of 16 and extending Becker in an infamous five set match before losing, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5. As some of you might recall, Becker broke the rules by getting a massage during a bathroom break (and was fined), which shows how much the teenager was physically challenging him. With Medvedev's solid performance on the grass, he rose back up to #5.
He wouldn't get close to that ranking for the rest of his career. The rest of 1994 was filled with mediocre results, dropping the Ukranian to year-end #15 at age 20. 1995 was highlighted by another Hamburg title, but not much else as he finished year-end #16. Then, things got pretty dim other than yet another Hamburg title in 1997. He was year-end #35 in 1996. Year-end #27 in 1997. Year-end #62 in 1998.
Finally, in 1999 he showed signs of life at the French Open, straight setting Kuerten (who had won Monte Carlo and Rome) on the way to the final where he dominated Agassi for two sets before a rain delay changed momentum and the match. Medvedev notched a win over Krajicek at the Grand Slam Cup, but didn't do much the rest of the year, finishing year-end #31. He would play a couple more years, but not reach another final anywhere. After his promising results as a teenager on hard, carpet, and grass in 1993-1994, Medvedev wouldn't make another final on any of these surfaces and never came close again to the top 5 status he reached at age 19. With 4 Masters Series titles, Medvedev is behind only Zverev (7) and Rios (5) among players with the most Masters Series titles, but no Majors.
So, what happened? There were no clear injury issues that changed his fortunes. Instead, reports are that he simply lacked motivation, which was evident by his change in physique. When he hit the scene as a teenager, Medvedev was a skinny 6'4", but he started packing on the pounds as he hit 20s, hindering his movement. This added heft helped him in Hamburg, where he was able to hit through the heavy conditions. But it did him no favors elsewhere.
In assessing his game, I recall people at the time saying he was a bigger, stronger version of Kafelnikov, with more juice on his serve and an equally solid two handed backhand. And, indeed, he ended up 6-5 against the Russian, who was his most frequent opponent. But, whereas Yevgeny maximized his game, Andrei left a lot on the table.
But how much? I post this as the Krickstein thread is toward the top of the forum. These were two players who started stacking the titles at age 17 and reached the top 10 (top 5 for Medvedev) as teenagers. In the Krickstein thread, the pretty clear answer to why he didn't achieve more was a series of severe injuries. Was the only thing that held Medvedev back his lack of motivation/training? Or was there something else?
Then, in 1993, at age 18 (turning 19 on August 31st), Medvedev showed he could be a threat across surfaces, winning Estoril (over Karel Nováček) and Barcelona (again over Bruguera) on clay, making the Halle final on grass (losing to Leconte), winning New Haven on hard courts (over Korda), and making the Bercy final on carpet (losing to Ivanišević). Medvedev was a semifinalist at the French Open (this time losing to eventual champion Bruguera) and also on carpet at WTF (conquering Courier and Chang in the RR stage). At 19 years, 4 months old, he finished #6 in the world.
In 1994, still at age 19, he won both Monte Carlo (again over Bruguera) and Hamburg (over Kafelnikov) to climb to #4 in the world. At the French, he would again lose to Bruguera (this time in the QF), knocking him down to #6. Then, at Wimbledon, he again showed solid grass skills, making the Round of 16 and extending Becker in an infamous five set match before losing, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5. As some of you might recall, Becker broke the rules by getting a massage during a bathroom break (and was fined), which shows how much the teenager was physically challenging him. With Medvedev's solid performance on the grass, he rose back up to #5.
He wouldn't get close to that ranking for the rest of his career. The rest of 1994 was filled with mediocre results, dropping the Ukranian to year-end #15 at age 20. 1995 was highlighted by another Hamburg title, but not much else as he finished year-end #16. Then, things got pretty dim other than yet another Hamburg title in 1997. He was year-end #35 in 1996. Year-end #27 in 1997. Year-end #62 in 1998.
Finally, in 1999 he showed signs of life at the French Open, straight setting Kuerten (who had won Monte Carlo and Rome) on the way to the final where he dominated Agassi for two sets before a rain delay changed momentum and the match. Medvedev notched a win over Krajicek at the Grand Slam Cup, but didn't do much the rest of the year, finishing year-end #31. He would play a couple more years, but not reach another final anywhere. After his promising results as a teenager on hard, carpet, and grass in 1993-1994, Medvedev wouldn't make another final on any of these surfaces and never came close again to the top 5 status he reached at age 19. With 4 Masters Series titles, Medvedev is behind only Zverev (7) and Rios (5) among players with the most Masters Series titles, but no Majors.
So, what happened? There were no clear injury issues that changed his fortunes. Instead, reports are that he simply lacked motivation, which was evident by his change in physique. When he hit the scene as a teenager, Medvedev was a skinny 6'4", but he started packing on the pounds as he hit 20s, hindering his movement. This added heft helped him in Hamburg, where he was able to hit through the heavy conditions. But it did him no favors elsewhere.
In assessing his game, I recall people at the time saying he was a bigger, stronger version of Kafelnikov, with more juice on his serve and an equally solid two handed backhand. And, indeed, he ended up 6-5 against the Russian, who was his most frequent opponent. But, whereas Yevgeny maximized his game, Andrei left a lot on the table.
But how much? I post this as the Krickstein thread is toward the top of the forum. These were two players who started stacking the titles at age 17 and reached the top 10 (top 5 for Medvedev) as teenagers. In the Krickstein thread, the pretty clear answer to why he didn't achieve more was a series of severe injuries. Was the only thing that held Medvedev back his lack of motivation/training? Or was there something else?
