Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev started the new season strongly by claiming the Brisbane International championship on Sunday. He secured a straight-sets victory over Brandon Nakashima, winning 6-2, 7-6(1) as the top seed at the ATP 250 event.
This win is significant for Medvedev as it marks his 22nd tour-level title, all of which have been won at different tournaments. It also serves as redemption for the former World No. 1, who had previously missed out on the Brisbane final in 2019.
The final match lasted one hour and 34 minutes, characterized by intense baseline play. While Medvedev comfortably took the first set, the second set posed more challenges. Despite missing opportunities to close out the match at 5-4, he regrouped and dominated the tie-break to secure the victory.
Medvedev dedicated his win to his family, mentioning that due to the long travel distance, they couldn’t be with him to celebrate a special family occasion. He expressed, “I want to dedicate this to my family. My daughter had a birthday when I was here, so I dedicate it to her first birthday.”
Since October, Medvedev’s performance has been improving, especially after ending a title drought in Almaty with new coaches Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke. His victory in Brisbane makes him the first top seed to win the title since Roger Federer in 2015.
For Nakashima, the loss concluded a strong week where he hadn’t dropped a set before the final. Despite aiming for his second career title, he couldn’t overcome Medvedev, who now leads their head-to-head series 3-0.
With this win, Medvedev joins Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner as the only active players with 20 or more tour-level trophies on the surface.
