Gilles Simon worked with tennis star Daniil Medvedev for just one year. The coach speaks out about the Russian.
Daniil Medvedev is the enfant terrible of tennis. The Russian repeatedly attracts attention with his emotional outbursts. In 2024, coach Gilles Simon accompanied the former world number one and has now spoken about that time.
Speaking to Eurosport, the 40-year-old said of Medvedev’s outbursts: “When you’re sitting in the box, he’s the most unpleasant person to be with.”
“He’s a player I actually admire.”
He pointed out that Medvedev is “extremely pleasant” off the court, but “when he’s on the court during a match, he has to deal with a little monster inside him that’s not easy to handle.”
Simon emphasized that he knew what he was getting into when he accepted his first coaching position. “He’s a player I really like, whom I even admire and understand,” explained the former pro.
Medvedev didn’t want to change anything
He described how his former protégé had been very confident in himself, which made it difficult to “change anything when two players like (Carlos) Alcaraz and Sinner had overtaken him and you had to try something new.”
This was also due to the fact that the Russian was already 28 years old and had been doing certain things throughout his entire career.
“Difficult situation” when Simon took over
At the end of 2024, they parted ways. When Simon asked the Russian how he could have convinced him, Medvedev replied: “You tried very hard, there was nothing more you could have done.”
The situation was doomed from the start, because at Medvedev’s request, Simon joined the existing team led by the actual coach, Gilles Cervara. “You have to understand that Daniil contacted me without telling Gilles,” explained the 40-year-old, adding: “It was a difficult situation for Gilles.”
