Daniil Medvedev’s Coach Gilles Cervara Is His Secret Weapon Against His Opponents
Gilles Cervara has been coaching Daniil Medvedev since 2017. Under Cervara’s guidance, Medvedev won a number of titles, including the 2021 US Open, where he beat Novak Djokovic.
Gilles Cervara, who is from France, briefly played on the ATP tour but didn’t find much success. But he has been a stellar coach for Medvedev. Cervara trained Medvedev to play an aggressive baseline game with very few mistakes, which frustrates opponents. Cervara also helped Medvedev become mentally strong and handle pressure situations well on the court.
In 2019, coaches on the ATP tour voted Gilles Cervara as the ATP Coach the Year. That’s not surprising if you consider the kind of season that Daniil Medvedev had in 2019. He won two Masters titles and reached the US Open final.
Medvedev started playing tennis at age 6 after his mother noticed an advertisement for tennis classes. Medvedev’s first tennis coach was Ekaterina Kryuchkova, who coached several players including Vera Zvonareva.
2021 was Medvedev’s best year on the tour. At the start of the year, he reached the finals at the Australian Open, reached the quarterfinals at the French Open (his least favorite surface is clay), and won the US Open.