“It’s great that she understands tennis,” Daniil Medvedev said of his wife once. Daria Medvedeva, a regular presence in the stands during her husband’s matches, has had quite an interesting trajectory when it comes to her professional career. Starting with tennis at a young age, it is the couple’s mutual love for the sport that got them closer. 

Both teenagers at the time, Daria and her future husband, used to train together. While he became an ATP superstar and the current World No. 5, fate took Daria away from the racquet sport. After an untimely retirement owing to injuries, she pursued a degree in journalism at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. “She played tennis until she was 17 or 18, but because of injuries she couldn’t reach the desired level,” said Medvedev in a previous interview. Regardless, “it’s great that she understands tennis. Perhaps it’s not easy to get used to it when you don’t understand anything in tennis. It helped me to become better as a person and a player,” the player further revealed. As for their love story, it’s nothing short of a star crossed lovers-esque tale! 

Also hailing from Russia, Medvedeva recalled meeting her husband when she was just 12. Apparently, it was the sound of a racquet breaking that got her acquainted with Medvedev. In an interview with Tatler Russia, the former player recalled the incident. She was reportedly sitting with her own team members, and remembered inquiring about the sound and being told, “’It’s Medvedev playing. You don’t know him?’ We went to watch him.”

But it wasn’t until 2014 that the pair started dating. In true millennial fashion, the player actually slid into Medvedeva’s DMs. And the rest, as we know, is history!

When Daniil reached out to Daria on Instagram after they had lost touch for a while, tennis help them bond before they exchanged phone numbers. “My mother and I even went to Moscow to watch his match,” Daria told Tatler Russia, awed at how far the boy she used to train with had gone in tennis.

After the two had exchanged numbers, Daria didn’t think much of it. It was France that ultimately brought them together. Daniil had been staying in Antibes and Daria traveled to Nice to meet with a dressmaker. “I flew in for a couple of days, we had dinner, celebrated, talked. Since then, things have evolved somehow,” she shared.

Despite ultimately ending her career, Medvedeva turned every stone possible to show her support for her husband. Daniil previously also recalled how their marriage helped him to become more dedicated to his professional career. But Daria’s role isn’t just limited to being a wife and a mother. She’s also been making strides as an entrepreneur!

Only an athlete can understand what an athlete needs!

The 28-year-old is quite the multitasker, it seems! Daria Medvedev is currently the co-founded and COO of an energy bar brand, RawQ. Revolving around Daniil Medvedev’s professional betterment, the company website states: “Energy bars are an important part of Daniil’s daily meal regimen, helping replenish energy supplies between workouts or sets during a match…Daniil had high requirements for the ingredients used, and nothing on the market was good enough. So we decided to create our own.”

Evidently, Medvedeva maintains a very low profile and more information about this endeavor is limited. However, her husband does make up for it by talking about the love of his life whenever possible!

The former world’s number-one has always been vocal about his wife’s contribution to his life. Medvedev once revealed in a press conference in Washington, “She’s one of the most important members of my team.“ Mentioning how Medvedeva gave him “a lot of confidence“, he further said, “I always say that it’s the moment I made the proposal to her, that’s when I started to go up. It was at this moment – it was after Wimbledon – I was, I think, 65 or something like this, and at the end of the year, I was already 15.”

The 28-year-old, who also shares a daughter with Daria, even revealed the amount of sacrifices his wife has made to make sure their child gets enough love. In an interview with Tennis.com, he said: “It’s not easy with tennis, because if you want to see your daughter a lot, then your wife has to sacrifice a lot. She has to travel with the baby, and many times it’s her taking the plane and not me. Being on a plane with a baby is not easy. I’ve done it a couple of times, she’s done it ten times more than me.”

Daniil Medvedev and Daria Medvedeva’s story is reminiscent of Roger and Mirka Federer’s, with Mirka having to give up her career due to an injury. But both supported their husbands living out their own tennis dreams!