Nineteen of Daniil Medvedev's twenty-one championships have been won on hard surfaces
A revitalized Daniil Medvedev won his maiden title for 882 days with success over Corentin Moutet in the Almaty Open final.
Medvedev, a former top-ranked player, has had a challenging period, managing just a single victory at the major tournaments and suffering a setback at the US Open.
His inconsistency on the ATP Tour - and issues with his service game in particular - resulted in him exiting of the top ten and eventually separating with long-time mentor Cervara.
Presently collaborating with his coach and Goetzke, he has consistently improved in the recent weeks - culminating in a hard-fought 7-5 4-6 6-3 win over challenger Moutet.
This marks his initial title since the Italian tournament and maiden on a hard surface after spring of the previous year.
Victory also means the Russian has secured 21 titles at 21 distinct competitions.
"This marks the first occasion I'm at a tournament with my children at once, so to get a championship is really nice," stated world number 14 the champion.
"This championship is in dedication of my second daughter her name, because the first title I got when my first daughter Alisa was born was for her."
Medvedev, the former major winner, had lost his previous six finals, including in Halle earlier this year.
His defensive play style and regular outbursts on the tennis court had caused commentators to question if his skill to play at the highest level was finished.
However the 29-year-old has implemented adjustments in the last few weeks, attempting to approach the net and perform aggressively, reinforced by an improved serving game.
He fought back from a deficit in the opening set against the difficult Frenchman, taking 4 of the final five exchanges to take the lead.
The competitors traded break points in the second set before Moutet, attempting for his maiden tour championship, took control to force a final set.
Moutet defended 4 initial chances in a competitive third set before the Russian broke to 15 to close out the victory.
Fittingly, Medvedev secured the win with a point at the net, with his opponent unable to handle a shot after over two and a half hours.
