World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev on Thursday defeated German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing Italian Open in Rome for the first time in his career.

Also Read: Rafael Nadal withdraws from Roland Garros and hinted 2024 to be his last season

Medvedev, who has described himself as a "hard court specialist", had never won a match in Rome before this year's tournament but has produced some of his best tennis to reach the last four at the Italian Open for the first time since Monte Carlo in 2019.

Medvedev ducked deep behind the baseline to absorb Hanfmann's tremendous hitting in a commanding effort. After that, he won a handful of breathtaking passes. After an hour and 20 minutes, the third seed progressed well on center court and squared the ball off both wings to advance neatly. In the Italian Open semi-finals on Saturday, the 27-year-old will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Borna Coric in search of his fifth title of the season.

"I am feeling great. I said before the tournament I was feeling really great in practice. It is always a danger to say this if you lose the first round and you think, 'Why did I say this'. But I am proving it. I knew I had to put as many balls into the court as possible because he plays aggressively. Maybe he didn't play his best match but that is how it works... I am happy I could neutralize his attacking style."

Medvedev said after the match.

Also Read: Laureus Sport Awards 2023: List of Winners

Medvedev was zoned from the first ball against Hanfmann in one of his best performances of the season. The third seed won 80% (16/20) of his first-serve points in the first set. He was aggressive throughout the round, hitting 14 winners to lead. Medvedev controlled the baseline exchanges with his weight and shot depth in the second set to claim his 37th win of the season. In addition, Hanfmann was also competing in the quarterfinals at the Italian Open ATP Masters 1000 for the first time. Earlier, he eliminated Top 10 stars Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev in the last eight.

World No 1 Jannik Sinner was set to be the top seed in the men’s singles draw, and in the men’s doubles draw alongside fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti. In Sinner's absence, Novak Djokovic is set to be the top seed in Men's singles at the Paris Olympics 2024. The brackets will feature 64 players, resulting in 16 seeded players. To win the gold, one must win six matches. The top 16 pre-seeded players won't face each other in the first two rounds. The players from the same country also cannot face each other in the first two rounds.

Read Also: Last 10 Wimbledon Champions List (Men's)

Paris Olympics 2024 Men's Singles Seed

Novak Djokovic is likely making his last Olympic Games appearance and will be searching for his first gold medal. Djokovic won singles bronze at Beijing 2008 but a gold medal is the one prize he doesn't have won in his historic career.

The favourite for the gold is world No 3 and third seed, Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz is making his Olympic Games debut and coming after winning the French Open and Wimbledon, making him the most in-form player on tour.

Alexander Zverev is also a contender for the gold. World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev will compete as an authorized neutral athlete and is projected to be the fifth seed.

Men’s singles seeds (as of 22 July 2024)

1. 1) Jannik Sinner, Italy
2. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
3. Carlos Alcaraz, Spain
4. Alexander Zverev, Germany
5. Daniil Medvedev, Authorised Neutral Athlete
6. Alex de Minaur, Australia
7. Casper Ruud, Norway
8. Taylor Fritz, United States
9. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
10. Tommy Paul, United States
11. Ugo Humbert, France
12. Holger Rune, Denmark
13. Lorenzo Musetti, Italy
14. Sebastian Baez, Argentina
15. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Canada
16. Arthur Fils, France

The life of a professional athlete is one of precision. Despite the capacity for careful calculation, they understand there will always be elements beyond their control. This may be why many athletes lean just as much on their pregame rituals as they do on their months of preparation. Because in the seconds before the big match, tournament, or race, who wouldn’t want any help they could get? Let's take a look at the top superstitions at Paris Olympics 2024 that will help athletes get competition-ready.

Also Read: Most Olympic Games without any medal: Monaco, Myanmar and Bangladesh in top 30

Superstitions at Paris Olympics 2024

Nadal's on-court tennis rituals

Rafael Nadal is well-known for his many behaviours, both superstitious and routine. The on-court routine of Rafael Nadal has been among the most discussed topics in tennis. In almost every match, the Spaniard takes a sip of each of his two bottles and places them in a certain position. He meticulously arranges his water bottles so that the labels face the same direction. He also follows a strict sequence of actions, such as not touching the court lines and performing a specific routine with his shirt, hair, and face before serving a shot.

Naomi Osaka and her superstitions about bottles

Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka wants her water bottles to be completely aligned. She believes most athletes have very strong superstitions. Like Nadal, her ritual revolves around the precise arrangement of the bottles, making sure they are facing the same direction and placed in a specific order.

Also Read: All-time Olympic medal tally: USA top with 2,629 medals; India placed at 58

Daniil Medvedev's eating habits

Daniil Medvedev also has the “crazy” rituals. He had one rigid routine that he followed before every match. Although Medvedev is pretty flexible when it comes to switching up his routines, he admitted there was one thing he always had to keep the same and couldn’t do even one second too late, which is his eating habits. Medvedev always eats exactly 2 hours and 30 minutes before his matches.

Gianmarco Tamberi's signature look

Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi known for his beard, which is half shaved, has been his signature style since 2011. Tamberi won the European Athletics Championships in Rome. After the competition, when he was presented with his gold medal during the awards ceremony, he stepped on the podium with his beard fully shaven. Tamberi has been ranked as the No. 1 high jumper in Europe for 135 weeks. He will carry the Italian flag at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Carissa Moore's husband wears her lucky socks

American surfer Carissa Moore, a five-time world champion, has a unique superstition that relies not on herself but on her boyfriend. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion firmly believes that her boyfriend's socks bring her good fortune on the waves.

Also Read: How many sports will there be at the Paris Olympics 2024? Which are the new ones?

Vashti Cunningham watches 'Kill Bill'

Vashti Cunningham, the American high jumper watches Kill Bill, the night before every competition. She also does Bible study along with her father before going out and getting ready for warm-up and jumping.

Second seed Jannick Sinner entered the final of the Miami Open with a victory over third seed Daniil Medvedev. Sinner will face 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the other semi-final. 

Also Read: Miami Open: India's Rohan Bopanna reaches men's doubles final, one step away from the title

Sinner showed a strong performance in the semi-finals and defeated Medvedev 6-1 6-2. While after defeating top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, Dimitrov defeated Germany's Zverev 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the semi-finals to reach the first Miami Open final. 

The result moved Dimitrov up to No. 9 in the ATP Live Rankings, marking his return to the top 10 in the ATP Rankings for the first time since November 2018. The gap of 260 weeks between their top 10 standings is the third longest in the history of the rankings. 

Dimitrov secured his 20th top-5 win in control of Zverev, who is bidding for his 11th ATP Masters 1000 final. The German is looking for his first final at that level since Madrid in 2022, his most recent hard-court Masters 1000 final was in Cincinnati in 2021.

Meanwhile, Sinner has only lost one match so far this season, falling to a last-four defeat at Indian Wells two weeks ago to eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz, and if he wins in Florida he will move up one place in the world rankings to number two - replacing the Spanish double Grand Slam champion. 

Also Read: 10 Inspiring Indian Sportswomen: International Women's Day Special

When Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov meet in the final of the Miami Open presented by Itau, they’ll both be looking for their second career ATP Masters 1000 trophies. 

Spanish World No. 2 tennis player Carlos Alcaraz won the Indian Wells title for the second time after defeating Daniil Medvedev on Sunday. But Alcaraz's journey to defend his title was full of challenges. The young Spaniard, who has been struggling with an ankle problem, faced a tough battle against Medvedev in the final.

Also Read: 'I can't lie to myself and lie to the thousands of fans.' - Rafael Nadal withdraws from 2024 Paribas Open

"Winning this tournament means a lot to me because the week before the tournament began, I had a lot of doubts. I remember my first practice, it was 30 minutes, no movement. It was really tough for me because I thought I was not going to play my best, I was not feeling well with my ankle, so a lot of doubts for me. Once I stepped on to the court, I started to feel better. As I said after every match, it was feeling better and better, so really happy to win the tournament." Alcaraz said after Indian Wells final.

Alcaraz made a spectacular comeback after a difficult opening set in the Indian Wells final match. Medvedev was leading 6-5 in this set. However, Alcaraz bounced back through the tie-break to take a 7-5 lead. The story of the match looked different in the second set and Alcaraz defeated the world No. 4 to win his first title of the year. This is also his first title win since Wimbledon last summer.

Also Read: Last 10 Wimbledon Champions List (Men's)

"After every match I was feeling better. I was getting more confident after every match. Winning a Master 1000 again, a really important tournament to win, gives you motivation to keep going." Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in a three-set semifinal after needing three sets to get out of his second-round match.

The 20-year-old Spaniard was returning from an ankle injury which forced him to retire from his opening match at the Rio Open last month. "I had a lot of nerves. It was difficult to start, but I started to play better. I calmed myself and controlled my emotions." Alcaraz said.

Alcaraz is only the sixth player to successfully defend the Indian Wells crown. He is also the first player since Novak Djokovic in 2016 to win Indian Wells twice in a row.

"It's definitely your court, you like it here. Hopefully you can one day let me play a little bit better here." Medvedev told Alcaraz during the victory ceremony.

Coming into 2024, Daniil Medvedev has played in five Grand Slam finals in his career and lost four of them. It's a painful return for a player who is desperate to establish his legacy in the same era as the Big Three: Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. So, will 2024 bring a change of luck for Medvedev? The answer is we'll soon find out as the Australian Open gets closer to crowning a champion.

On the up Down Under 

At a price of 17/2 to win the 2024 Australian Open, Medvedev certainly isn't the favourite but the Russian has enjoyed considerable success in Melbourne after playing in consecutive finals in 2021 and 2022. While this is an impressive record that suggests Medvedev isn't far off cracking the code at the Rod Laver Arena, the favourite tag still belongs to Djokovic wherever he plays. 

Also Read: Most titles in Tennis singles in open era (Men's)

As the man being tipped to win all four Grand Slams this year, Djokovic undoubtedly stands out as the most reliable choice for those considering safe bets on tennis during the year's four majors. This domination on the men's tour isn't likely to change either as the Serb seems to get better with age.

Irrespective of Djokovic's genius and predicted silverware sweep, Medvedev is more than capable of challenging and even adding to his Grand Slam tally in 2024 given his prowess on hard courts. 

pic.twitter.com/pSNFPOnx6t

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) September 16, 2021

Live and learn 

Admittedly, 2023 was the obvious exception to this as the Russian was dumped out of the Australian Open during the third round. However, it was evident that Medvedev was still coming to terms with the manner of his defeat in the 2022 final against Nadal when he was unable to see the job through despite going two sets up. Regrettably, Medvedev cut a lethargic figure on his return to Australia and was soon on a plane home.

However, such a disappointing and premature end at the Australian Open turned out to be the incentive that Medvedev needed to find his groove again. Over the next 11 months, the Russian racked up more wins in the calendar year than any other player on tour with 66.

Crucially, 74% of those wins came on hard courts. Such dominant stats over the last 12 months provide further evidence of why big things are expected of Medvedev in 2024 after emphatically leaving his mark on the men's game in 2023.

Two matches, two solid wins.
Turin semi-finals awaits you, Daniil. 🙌#TeamLacoste pic.twitter.com/NXSqDK84Ru

— Lacoste (@Lacoste) November 15, 2023

Dealing with pressure 

The challenge for the Moscow-born player will be to shoulder the weight of expectations on him during the year's four Grand Slams after a barnstorming 2023. The reality is that Medvedev tends to let himself be overwhelmed by the occasion, which scuppers his chances of making history. 

This trend often shows itself by getting drawn into confrontations with the crowd during moments of intense pressure. The most notable example of this came during the aforementioned 2022 Australian Open final defeat to Nadal.

At two sets up and cruising towards his second career Grand Slam, Medvedev made the mistake of not only taking on Nadal but also the crowd. With every point the Spaniard scored in his comeback, the noise decibels went up while Medvedev's performance went down. A needless defeat followed shortly afterwards. 

By now, spectators around the world are aware of how susceptible Medvedev is to the odd remark from the stands, which means that they arrive more frequently. 

The Russian will need to find a way to shut out the noise in 2024 and focus on what he seems to have no problem doing when he's in a settled temperament: beating his opponents. 

Should Medvedev be successful in overcoming this barrier to success, then he's destined to throw off the tag of tennis' nearly man and enjoy a year which sees him make up for lost time.