Revitalized Daniil Medvedev Secures First Title in Over Two Years
Nineteen of Medvedev's twenty-one championships have been won on hard courts
A revitalized Medvedev won his initial title for nearly 30 months with victory over Frenchman Moutet in the Almaty Open final.
Medvedev, a former world number one, has endured a torrid period, winning just a single victory at the big events and experiencing a setback at the New York tournament.
The player's inconsistency on the tennis tour - and struggles with his service game in particular - caused him dropping out of the world's top 10 and eventually separating with long-term trainer Gilles Cervara.
Currently training with Thomas Johansson and his other coach, the tennis star has consistently improved in the past month - climaxing in a hard-fought competitive triumph over challenger Corentin Moutet.
This represents the player's maiden championship following the 2023 Rome Masters and first on a hard court after spring of the previous year.
Success also indicates Medvedev has won twenty-one championships at 21 various tournaments.
"This marks the first occasion I have attended a competition with my children together, so to get a championship is particularly special," said world number 14 Medvedev.
"This championship is in honour of my child my daughter, because the maiden victory I won when my older daughter Alisa was born was for her."
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, had lost his past six championship matches, including in that event previously this season.
Medvedev's retrieving play style and regular emotional displays on court had led some to wonder if his capacity to play at the top level was finished.
Yet the athlete has implemented adjustments in recent weeks, making an effort to come to the net and perform assertively, supported by an improved serving game.
He fought back from a deficit in the initial set against the challenging Moutet, winning four of the last five exchanges to go ahead.
The competitors traded break points in the middle set before the challenger, striving for his initial ATP Tour championship, seized the initiative to force a final set.
He saved 4 early-game opportunities in a tight third set before the champion secured a break to that score to serve for the match.
Appropriately, Medvedev earned the win with a point at the front of the court, with the Frenchman unable to manage a volley after over two and a half hours.
