Daniil Medvedev of Russia returns in the Miami Open quarterfinals against Hubert Hurkacz (not pictured) of Poland at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, March 31, 2022. /CFP
The world's No. 2 male tennis player, Daniil Medvedev of Russia, will return to the court at the Geneva Open between May 14 and 21 after resting for five weeks to recover from surgery on a hernia injury.
As one of the tennis world's rising stars, Medvedev reached the Australian Open final both in 2021 and 2022. He also secured the first Grand Slam title in his career after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia 3-0 (6-4, 6-4 and 6-4) in the U.S. Open final last year.
However, Medvedev is unlikely to appear in the Wimbledon Championships beginning June 27 because the tournament's organizer, the All England Club, made the controversial decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from participating in the event due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"I don't know if this decision is like 100 percent and it's over (for me)," Medvedev said. "If I can play, I'm going to be happy to play at Wimbledon. I love this tournament."
Daniil Medvedev of Russia returns in the Miami Open quarterfinals against Hubert Hurkacz (not pictured) of Poland at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, March 31, 2022. /CFP
His best record at the Wimbledon Championships was reaching the fourth round in 2021 before losing to Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.
The Geneva Open is a clay-court tournament and Medvedev has never been a top player on the surface. His best performance at the French Open was a quarterfinals appearance in 2021.
"It's never been easy for me on clay court to straight away start (well). Even one tournament is going to be good to prepare. I'm feeling good physically," he said. Having got a bye in the first round as the top seed, Medvedev will face the winner between Richard Gasquet of France and John Millman of Australia in the second round.