ATP Tour
Rivalries of 2025: Medvedev vs. Zverev
Throughout three high-stakes encounters, Medvedev tightens his grip on thrilling rivalry
November 28, 2025
Julian Finney/Getty Photographs
Daniil Medvedev leads Alexander Zverev 14-8 of their Lexus ATP Head2Head collection.
By Jerome Coombe
To mark the top of one other thrilling season, ATPTour.com is unveiling our annual ‘Best Of’ series, which can mirror on probably the most intriguing rivalries, matches, comebacks, upsets and extra. This week, we’re taking a look at one of the best rivalries of the yr.
After assembly simply as soon as in 2024, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev reignited their long-running rivalry in 2025 with three compelling chapters. Throughout three high-stakes encounters — one a thriller that includes match-point saves — Medvedev tightened his grip on their Lexus ATP Head2Head collection, extending his benefit to 14-8. Right here, ATPTour.com revisits their 2025 clashes.
Halle SFs, Medvedev d. Zverev 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-4
Medvedev’s run to his first tour-level ultimate in 15 months fittingly required navigating the opponent who had outlined lots of the pivotal moments in his profession. Their first assembly of the season on the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle marked their first on grass in a nine-year rivalry, but it surely nonetheless unfolded like a microcosm of their long-standing competitors: tactical, tense, and stretched skinny by momentum swings.
Medvedev constructed a set-and-a-break lead and even held two match factors on return at 6-5 within the second, however Zverev uncorked a sequence of daring, improvised shotmaking. His half-volley winner to finish a 21-shot rally sealed the twelfth sport, and he stormed by way of the tie-break to pressure a decider.
However the former World No. 1 Medvedev, so typically the steadier pressure of their latest matchups, struck early and defended immaculately within the ultimate set, throughout which he saved all 4 of the break factors he confronted, in response to Infosys ATP Stats. Although he would fall brief within the championship match in opposition to Alexander Bublik, the victory served as a renewed reminder of his latest command over Zverev.
“I’m pleased that within the third set I managed to remain extra composed and managed to avoid wasting these break factors,” stated Medvedev. “All of the matches are very tight [between us]. When the matches are tight like at present, they will go any means.”
Beijing QFs, Medvedev d. Zverev 6-3, 6-3
Throughout his run on the China Open in Beijing, Medvedev started to collect some much-needed late-season momentum. His quarter-final in opposition to Zverev got here at a time when he was starting to reignite his bid to achieve the Nitto ATP Finals, including significant weight to the encounter past the scoreboard.
From the outset, Medvedev delivered the kind of assertion efficiency he sometimes reserves for his fiercest rival. Based on TDI Insights, his 2025 common Shot High quality sat at 7.7 on the forehand and seven.8 on the backhand — however in opposition to Zverev, these numbers spiked to 9.1 and eight.8 respectively, a major bounce that displays how sharply he elevates when dealing with the German. The end result was a suffocating, start-to-finish show that left Zverev little room to manoeuvre.
It marked Medvedev’s first High-5 win on laborious courts because the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals and helped launch a late surge that included semi-final runs in Beijing and Shanghai, and a title in Almaty. Although he fell simply in need of a Nitto ATP Finals spot within the PIF ATP Dwell Race To Turin, his efficiency in opposition to Zverev stood out as a key catalyst for his revival.
Paris QFs, Zverev d. Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
Zverev snapped his five-match dropping streak in opposition to Medvedev with considered one of his grittiest performances of the season on the Rolex Paris Masters, the place the German saved two match factors to return to the semi-finals.
The win got here at a pivotal second in each their trajectories: Zverev was defending his crown on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion, whereas Medvedev was preventing to maintain his Turin hopes alive. Their rivalry had tilted sharply in Medvedev’s favour over the previous two years, however Zverev lastly broke by way of by staying aggressive within the tightest passages and refusing to let the match slip — even when he twice stood inside some extent of defeat on serve at 4-5 within the ultimate set.
“Daniil is sort of my kryptonite, I don’t like enjoying him,” Zverev stated after incomes his first win over Medvedev since Cincinnati in 2023. “He’s anyone who has had my quantity for the final couple of years. The factor I’m most happy with is the match factors saved, the way in which I continued being courageous and within the necessary moments, successful the match myself.”
