Daniil Medvedev and his team are looking for small details, as indoor swing begins in Almaty

ALMATY—It’s all in the details, some say.

Daniil Medvedev is buying into that notion, as he continues settling into his new coaching team of Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke.

The 2021 US Open champion is coming off a semifinal showing at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, his first run to the last four of a 1000-level event in more than six months. As he describes the early goings of the collaboration, it’s one that is honing in on touching up his existing brand of tennis.

“I think my game is complete enough, but it needs a lot of small details to add here and there and that's what we're looking for,” he told press Wednesday in Almaty during the English portion of his pre-tournament press conference.

“It's everything: forehand, backhand, volley, serve. It’s already good enough because I was number one, but small details needs to be improved.”

Medvedev mutually ended an eight-year partnership with coach Gilles Cervara after his first-round loss to Benjamin Bonzi at the US Open. There wasn’t much time to get acquainted with Johansson and Goetzke ahead of an encouraging Asian swing, where he also advanced to the Beijing semifinals after dismissing Alexander Zverev.

“It's just a start. We made good results in China for sure. When you start playing better, you want to do more, and I know how to do more, but it's a step by step process for sure,” said Medvedev.

“It's not also easy to judge because there are tournaments, so we had like a week in Monaco and then it's tournament after tournament. There is no time to really do something big, but so far it has been working well, so we'll see how it goes later.”

I think my game is complete enough, but it needs a lot of small details to add here and there and that's what we're looking for. Daniil Medvedev

The Russian is seeded second this week in Almaty, behind Wednesday’s practice partner and defending champion Karen Khachanov. He’s well-acquainted with Kazakhstan, though this marks his first trip to the Apple City. Needless to say, Medvedev’s liked what he’s seen with the operation so far at Almaty Arena.

“They do a great job, the federation and the tournament itself. For a 250, it's a really, really good one. Everyone who came here for the first time is telling this,” he shared.

“I heard a lot of good things about Almaty. Getting in a bit late from Shanghai, I'm not gonna have much time to see the city. I went to the center once already.”

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Eight of Medvedev’s 20 career trophies have been lifted indoors. All 20 titles have infamously been celebrated in different cities, the last coming on clay at Rome in May 2023. Medvedev, naturally, Is all for trading in Shanghai’s conditions for the upcoming stretch of the season, as he bids to make a late push towards the ATP Finals as the current No. 15 position holder in the Race to Turin.

“Here it's better than Shanghai was. I mean you could see by all the players that it was probably one of the most brutal ever. Cincinnati can be a bit close, also Washington. The center court is also so big and so close, so there is no air coming through. It's pretty, pretty impressive,” said Medvedev.

“Here is gonna be easier for sure, physically. Now as I said, you just have a couple of days, so you hit some balls, you get ready and you see how it is tomorrow.”

The world No. 14 opens his campaign Thursday against Adam Walton.