Daniil Medvedev thinks preparing to fight off Alcaraz is not easy because of the extra risk that comes with playing against the world No. 1.
The Russian emphasized on seeking the right balance by not being overwhelmingly obsessed about the potential matchup with the very dangerous 20-year. Medvedev has recorded a win over the fiery Spaniard in their first meeting in 2021 but since then the latter has turned into a very different proposition.
After incurring the defeat in his first match, Alcaraz has returned the favor by drubbing the World #3, 6-3, 6-2 in 2023 Indian Wells final and Wimbledon semifinal that ended 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The duo could have a potential meetup in the final of Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati where top seed Alcaraz will open his campaign against Jordan Thompson and Medvedev will take Lorenzo Musetti in the opening game.
Ahead of their potential mouth-watering clash, the 1-time Grand Slam winner spoke reflected on how he approaches his encounters against the 2-time major champion.
“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?,” the Russian said in a pre-tournament interview.
“The other question is that, to get to Carlos, it will probably be the semis or final, 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, 27, crowned champion at Cincinnati Masters in 2019 also discussed how he and his team take insights from the Murcia-native’s matches.
“When he plays and we’re sitting in a restaurant looking, we’re not discussing too much like, ‘Did you see this?,’ continued Medvedev.
“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.
“It’s also interesting when like, for example, Carlos was doing a lot of drop shots against me in Indian Wells, and then in Miami, I felt like everyone was doing drop shots against me. I was like, ‘Yeah, but you have to do them like Carlos, otherwise I’m there and I hit the winner,’ and I won Miami!”