Former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev is no stranger to confrontations with chair umpires. The Russian has developed a reputation for fuming at tennis officials, especially when he is losing.

In a humorous turn of events, he recently wished chair umpire Jaume Campistol a “peaceful” retirement. What made this funny was that during the Australian Open 2022 semifinals, Medvedev had called Campistol a “small cat.”

Medvedev won that semifinal match against Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, he lost the final to Rafael Nadal in five sets after winning the first two.

This year, Medvedev’s best moment came at the Australian Open, where he made the finals again but sensationally lost to Jannik Sinner in the final after winning the first two sets again. Still, he has not won any ATP titles and has often found himself second-best to Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

On the Nothing Major Podcast, former tennis player John Isner shared his thoughts on Daniil Medvedev‘s tough 2024 season. Despite a year without titles, the big-serving American believes the Russian will bounce back in 2025. He even suggested Medvedev could win another Grand Slam next season.

In the latter part of the season, Medvedev lost early in Canada and Cincinnati. He reached the US Open quarter-finals but fell to Jannik Sinner. Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner also cut short his runs in Beijing and Shanghai. His form dipped further in Paris and the ATP Finals in Turin.

The loss to Sinner in Turin marked the end of Medvedev’s season, where he failed to win a single title for the first time since 2017. Despite these setbacks, Isner remains confident in Medvedev’s ability to recover and succeed in 2025.