“I’m not a huge fan of this surface. I just hope to play good tennis and get as far as possible,” admitted Alexander Zverev, unimpressed by Ohio’s revamped courts, now boasting 13 new additions. But court preference isn’t the only talking point; this year, the Cincinnati Heat has become a merciless opponent of its own. British ace Cameron Norrie looked visibly unwell before bowing out in a second-round defeat to veteran Roberto Bautista Agut, a stark reminder of the brutal conditions. And in the thick of it all, former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev found himself forced into bizarre mid-match tactics just to survive the scorching battlefield.

In his Cincinnati opener, Daniil Medvedev lit up the first set, taking the tie-break without conceding a point and blasting 41 winners, including 18 aces. Yet, the momentum flipped as he fell 6-7(0), 6-4, 6-1 to World No. 85,  Adam Walton. Once a lover of the US summer swing, the former champion, who previously thrived in Canada and Cincinnati, has now managed just one win across the two ATP Masters 1000 events this year.

But it wasn’t the loss alone that stole the spotlight. Under Ohio’s scorching sun, Medvedev’s unorthodox mid-match tactics to battle the heat became the real talking point, a vivid sign of how unforgiving conditions have turned player endurance into its own high-stakes contest.

In a clip shared by Olly Tennis on X, the third set told its own story. Medvedev, visibly wilting under Cincinnati’s furnace-like heat, leaned into the ice fridge at a changeover, searching for relief. Another moment showed him draping a towel over his head, sipping water with relentless frequency, and positioning the cooling fan directly at himself, the heat radiating off every frame. Tennis TV’s X handle captured the scene with perfect irony, captioning it, “Chillin 😎.” It was a battle not just against an opponent, but against the elements, where survival demanded as much creativity as it did sheer endurance.

On the court, the storm clouds keep gathering over Daniil Medvedev. The sharp edge that once cut through the tour feels dulled. Against the brutal Ohio heat and humidity, he battled for nearly two-and-a-half hours before Sunday’s opening-round loss, only to end up slumped, staring vacantly at the court between his outstretched legs. The fight was there, but the fire, his trademark feistiness, was missing.

The numbers tell their own chilling tale. Just one of his 26 wins this season has come on the sport’s biggest stages. Sitting 19th in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, his hopes of sealing a seventh straight trip to the Nitto ATP Finals, where he triumphed in 2020, are fading into the rearview. In Washington, D.C., Medvedev spoke with unvarnished honesty to ATPTour.com about the fog hanging over his form.

“It’s very tough in tennis, because I could find 10 reasons and I would not know which one is the main reason,” he said. “Whatever we do, we just try to improve. So we sat down with the team: Where can we do things better? What can we change? We discussed some things and I’m going to try and implement it.”

He knows the calendar ahead offers no mercy but also no hiding places. “This is the most exciting part of the season, there is hard courts until Miami next year. So I will try to give my best and enjoy it. It’s an opportunity, I want to take it as a challenge of trying to raise my level in the big occasions, trying to go step by step.”

Next comes the US Open, the battleground where in 2021 he denied Novak Djokovic the calendar-year Grand Slam and claimed his lone major crown. But this time, he arrives with form in freefall and a tour reshaped by the rise of a new “Big Two” in Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, an era Medvedev himself has recently weighed in on, even as he steels himself to prove he still belongs at the summit.

Daniil Medvedev on Sinner and Alcaraz’s dominance

There was a time, not long ago, when Daniil Medvedev looked destined to be the torchbearer of tennis’ next great era. He broke through the suffocating grip of the ‘Big Three,’ snatching the 2021 US Open and, just six months later, becoming the first man since 2004 outside Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, or Murray to claim the No. 1 spot in the PIF ATP Rankings.

But tennis’ landscape shifted fast. The Big Three’s rule gave way to a new reign, the ruthless duopoly of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, owners of the past seven Grand Slam crowns. Now 29, Medvedev knows time won’t gift him another opening. He’s vowing to fight, refusing to watch history shut him out again.

“Jannik and Carlos are playing amazing, they are the top two at the moment and they are playing better than everyone else, but never underestimate a third guy who is going to come and challenge them,” Medvedev told ATPTour.com. “There is a lot of talk about this: ‘How is it possible that no one is close to them?’ Carlos, when he was 17, came on Tour and everyone was like ‘How can he hit so strong? I can practise 10 hours a day and not hit that strong.’ So, when he has the days that he can’t miss — and he has them a lot — there is not any chance for us. It’s the same for Jannik, he’s a really strong player.”

His finals record (1-5) tells the brutality of his road, three losses to Djokovic, two to Nadal, and one to Sinner. Yet, he’s one of only three players to beat both Sinner and Alcaraz in majors.

As the US Open looms, the question burns: can Medvedev summon that 2021 fire and reclaim his place in tennis’ fight for the throne?