Medvedev Forehand Grip, Illustrated

Daniil Medvedev

Semi-Western

Index Base Knuckle on Semi-Western (Bevel 4), Bordering Eastern (Bevel 3)
Heel Pad on Semi-Western (Bevel 4)

Daniil Medvedev may play with a rather unorthodox technique, but his grip is a fairly common semi-western. That being said, it’s worth noting that his index knuckle is quite close to the eastern bevel. On a couple occasions, I even had to second-guess myself whether it was an eastern grip or not. Ultimately though, it’s still distinctively a semi-western grip.

What’s interesting and perhaps ironic is that his nemesis Stefanos Tsitsipas, uses an identical semi-western grip. They both have semi-western grips that are extremely close to the eastern bevel. I’d surmise that is part of the reason why both players hit flatter in relative to their peers. Although it’s a common misconception that Stefanos has an eastern grip, he does in fact, have a semi-western. You can check the investigative piece I did on the topic here.

Forehand Preparation, US Open 2021: The teal outline highlights the SW bevel, and Medvedev bevel index knuckle is clearly on it. As I remarked above, it is very close to the eastern bevel.

Forehand Finish, ATP 2022: On the forehand finish we can still see that the base index knuckle is on the SW bevel. This picture really highlights how close his knuckle is to the eastern bevel.

Forehand, Cincinnati 2019: This picture is shot right prior to the swing. The heel pad is slightly hiding behind the grip, so I’ve highlighted the edges of the bevel and the heel pad itself. It’s comfortably located on the SW bevel.