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yRublev v Medvedev: Match-up, childhood meetings, stats, track record, everything you need to know – updated after 2023 Dubai final
All you need to know about the rivalry between Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev
ATP 500 – Dubai Tennis Championships – The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – March 4, 2023 Russia’s Daniil Medvedev poses with trophy after winning his final match against Russia’s Andrey Rublev (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)
Medvedev v Rublev: The match-up
Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev have now played each other seven times on tour. Strangely, every single one of their meetings has been on hard court. Medvedev won their first four meetings but Rublev has begun to make inroads into the head-to-head record in recent times.
Every single one of their matches on tour has been in a quarter-final or later – except for their clash at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, when they met at the round-robin stage.
Here is a complete list of their matches on tour so far along with scores:
- 2019 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati, quarter-final: Medvedev won 6-2, 6-3
- 2019 St Petersburg, quarter-final: Medvedev won 6-4, 7-5
- 2020 US Open, quarter-final: Medvedev won 7-6 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
- 2021 Australian Open, quarter-final: Medvedev won 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
- 2021 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati, semi-final: Rublev won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
- 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, round-robin: Rublev won 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (7)
- 2023 Dubai, final: Medvedev won 6-2, 6-2
How many titles do they have? How do their statistics compare?
Medvedev is a former world No 1. He has won 18 career singles titles, including one Grand Slam (the US Open). As of March 4, 2023, he has won 70.1% of his tour-level matches across his career (on clay 43.9%, on grass 66.0%, on hard 74.2%).
Rublev’s career-high ranking is world No 5. He has won 12 titles on tour, but no Grand Slams. As of March 4, 2023, He has won 63.8% of his matches (62.3% on clay, 64.7% on grass, 64.1% on hard).
Did they meet in juniors?
They most certainly did play each other in juniors, and those matches sound like quite the spectacle.
“Both of us were crazy on court, destroying the racquets, complaining,” Rublev has said previously. “What I remember from him, he was always one of the biggest fighter that I ever saw in my life since he was, I don’t know, seven years old, he could play lobs maybe hours just to win.”
He added after the 2023 Dubai final: “Tennis-wise, is like I was saying on court, I have such a big respect for him because since he was a kid he was always fighter. No matter what, he could have only one racquet in his bag, his racquet could be broken, and he would still fight till the last point. He will play lobs for 20 minutes just to still fight and win the match. So many kids at our age, as soon as they see lob, they were tanking the matches. He was the one, doesn’t matter, I have broken racquet, only one racquet, broken shoes, whatever, he will be there, he will fight. He’s still the same.”
They have also played each other on the Challenger tour. Medvedev won their round of 16 clash in Hungary back in 2016, 6-3, 6-2.
Are Medvedev and Rublev friends?
Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev get on well. Rublev said after the 2023 Dubai final: “We have great connection outside the court. We understand each other really well. We have very easy friendship. We can laugh at stupid things. That’s what makes it even more easy, comfortable. If we play some events together and we have to spend time together, I don’t know, we have always nice time.”
