Alcaraz dwelling rent-free in Medvedev’s head as Russian obsessive about revenge
Daniil Medvedev admitted he thinks about Carlos Alcaraz throughout his follow periods and is determined for a shot at revenge. The world No 3 has confronted the Spaniard twice this 12 months and misplaced on each events. The pair might meet within the closing of subsequent week’s Cincinnati Open in the event that they each make it that far and the world No 1 is already in Medvedev’s head.
Back in 2021, Medvedev bought a routine straight-set victory over an 18-year-old rising star at Wimbledon – world No 75 Alcaraz. The Spaniard went on to develop into the world No 1 and a Grand Slam champion simply 14 months later. And since then, Medvedev hasn’t overwhelmed him.
The 20-year-old is 2-0 towards the Russian this 12 months, defeating him within the closing of the Indian Wells Masters earlier than downing him in final month’s Wimbledon semi-final. Medvedev hasn’t even taken a set off the world No 1 and Alcaraz has since been invading his ideas as he plots his revenge.
Ahead of the Cincinnati Open – the place Medvedev and Alcaraz are in reverse halves of the draw – the world No 3 stated: “It’s always a balance because every time I practice from now on, I can be thinking that it’s Carlos on the other side, so what should I do?”
On high of enthusiastic about Alcaraz throughout his follow periods, the 20-time title winner admitted that he was additionally making ready to face Alcaraz even when there have been different opponents in the best way of a possible showdown. “The other question is that to get to Carlos, it will probably be the semis or final,” he defined.
“And so you need to beat other guys before and I’m not sure if I would play them like I would play Carlos. With Carlos, you have to take a little more risk, but with other guys, I’m not sure. So, it’s always a balance so it’s not like, you’re only thinking about Carlos but then you lose in the first round and you’re thinking, ‘Well, at least I was prepared for Carlos!’”
Medvedev wasn’t simply enthusiastic about Alcaraz from the angle of a rival as he additionally confessed to watching his matches like an everyday tennis fan as a substitute of analysing them. The 27-year-old added: “When he plays and we’re sitting in a restaurant looking, we’re not discussing too much like, ‘Did you see this?’
“We’re more like fans, looking, and seeing what happens. For example, Tommy Paul, it wasn’t the first time he brought trouble to Carlos, so it can be interesting to see what he does.”
While Medvedev is making ready to actual his revenge on Alcaraz after two one-sided defeats this season, he’ll first should give attention to both Dan Evans or Lorenzo Musetti. The world No 3 has a bye to the second spherical the place he meets the winner of their conflict.
He can also be in the identical half of the draw as Novak Djokovic, which means they may meet within the semi-final in the event that they each make it that far. And even when Medvedev loses early, it appears he’s protected within the data that he was ready for Alcaraz regardless.