Daniil Medvedev will never be the most graceful player on clay. The Russian knows it, freely admits it, and yet keeps finding ways to win. His come-from-behind victory over Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz (3-6, 6-4, 6-2) in the third round of the Italian Open perfectly captures this contradiction: Medvedev struggles on clay, but Medvedev survives.
Trailing by a set after a sluggish opener, the world number five found his rhythm in the second set. A crucial break point converted at the right moment, then a decisive surge in the third set with two early breaks to lead 4-1. The familiar Medvedev clay-court formula: absorb pressure, adjust, then suffocate the opponent with relentless consistency.
His relationship with clay has long fueled debate. The sometimes awkward slides, the flat groundstrokes poorly suited to high bounces, the candid assessments of his own limitations on the surface: everything seemed to condemn him to mediocrity on the dirt. Yet season after season, he improves. A Roland-Garros semifinalist in 2024, a regular fixture in the second week of clay Masters 1000 events, he has turned a perceived weakness into a competitive weapon.
His next opponent in the fourth round will be Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante, a clay-court specialist comfortable in the long baseline exchanges where Medvedev traditionally suffers. Another test for a player who keeps pushing his own boundaries on the Roman ochre.
At 30, Medvedev proves that an exceptional career can be built without ever becoming a clay-court artist. He does not slide with the grace of a Nadal or strike with the spin of a Ruud. But he finds solutions, time and again. Sometimes, sheer tenacity is enough.
