882 days without a title is practically a lifetime in tennis years. Daniil Medvedev’s last trophy came way back in Rome in 2023, and since then, he’s been haunted by near misses – six finals (US Open, Beijing, Vienna, Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Halle) and six heartbreaks. But that dry spell finally came to an end in Almaty, where the former world No. 1 snapped his 29-month title drought against 26-year-old Corentin Moutet in what felt like long-overdue redemption. And true to form, he did it with flair.

After falling short in the Shanghai Masters semifinals against the underdog, Arthur Rinderknech, Daniil Medvedev came out swinging at the Almaty Open, kicking things off with a dominant straight-sets win over Adam Walton. He followed that up with victories over Fábián Marozsán

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