Daniil Medvedev has declared that Carlos Alcaraz is the toughest competitor as compared to Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Medvedev and Alcaraz once again crossed each other’s path for the 7th time at the Wimbledon final four stage and for the fifth time it was the Spaniard who prevailed against Russian win a score of 6(1)-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
The World #3 has racked up wins in their last three matches as he was sealed victories at the Indian Wells final and last year’s ATP Finals. Many have compared the Murcia-native to Federer, Nadal and Djokovic with some praising his game as a mixture of the Big Three’s tennis but Medvedev who has faced all four on the tour sees it differently.
“The thing is I played big three when they were let’s call older, over 30. A bit different,” the 2021 US Open champion after the semifinal loss.
“They’re all different, all different in their own way, in their game. I feel like you can’t even, yeah, take something from one and compare to another.
“So Roger plays on the line. Hits beautiful technique shots, goes to the net. Novak plays also on the line, but completely different. Amazing defense, like pinball player where the ball comes so back faster to you. Rafa, completely different. He can stay ten meters behind, but he is going to run to every ball and banana shot, lefty.
“Carlos, I don’t think he has anything from them. It’s a different game style. I think where Carlos is different from many players, we all have a little bit of our preferences, someone prefers defence, someone prefers counterattack, someone prefers to be super aggressive. He can do all of it.
“He can sometimes slice, even bad slice, and then run and try to win like this. Then when you hit him many times, when guys do this, you can play with them. You can hit them the easy shot back, and they don’t want to attack, but that’s not Carlos. Hit him easy shot, you know it’s over for you. That what makes it tough.
“Probably in my career he’s the toughest opponent I have faced. But I have time, I have time to try to do better.”
The 3-time Grand Slam champion’s ability to throw racket on almost any ball coming in his part of the court has achieved him success over the past few years with the Russian admitting that as an opponent you should always be ready for an extra shot.
“It makes you miss easy shots at the end. And that’s what I do many times. Not as fast as Carlos, but I try my best,” the 28-yearo-old said.
“The more you know the more your opponent hits a great shot or I hit a great shot against Carlos, and then suddenly you receive of a passing shot the next one. You’re going to try to hit it better. You’re going to doubt, am I going to go to the net or not?
“I remember there was particularly one, I hit a good smash, and he still made it. I had a very easy volley, but I overplayed it just a little bit. Yeah, because you are always questioning what’s the best shot, do I go almost for the line or not? It’s not easy to play such players.
“Again, that’s why we also see so many highlights of him because, yeah, that’s what he does.”