Daniil Medvedev’s rivals have been warned that the world No 3 can be even more dangerous for the next year after defeating Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open. Medvedev failed to win a set in their previous two meetings but stunned the top seed in Friday’s semi-final. And his coach believes that he can now carry extra confidence into the rest of the season and beyond.
Medvedev stunned defending champion Alcaraz at the US Open on Friday. The pair had met twice this year with the world No 1 dominating the Russian in the Indian Wells final and the Wimbledon semi-final. But it was the 27-year-old who flipped the script in Flushing Meadows, winning 7-6(3) 6-1 3-6 6-3.
The 20-time title winner said he played at a “12 out of 10” to send last year’s US Open winner packing. Medvedev’s coach has also given his verdict on the victory and admitted it would be a huge boost for his charge going into the rest of the season as well as next year.
Gilles Cervara was asked how important the victory was for the world No 3 in his rivalry against Alcaraz and replied: “I think how important it is, I can’t precisely answer this question, but yes, I know that in a career, especially now because forever he would have this win in his head, and for the rest of the season and for the next year also, to know that he did it.”
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The Frenchman knew that Medvedev would take a lot of confidence from the match – something that could make him even more dangerous in his matches for the next year. He added: “So I think it’s something that you build your confidence like this.
“You’re able probably to feel that you are still in the best, I mean, he knows that he’s in the best player but it’s different to be top 5 than ready to be top 1, top 2, or top 3. And I think this one will help like this.”
While Medvedev had one previous victory over Alcaraz, it came at Wimbledon back in 2021 when the Spaniard was aged just 18, ranked down at No 75 in the world and was yet to win any titles on the tour. The 27-year-old’s victory also marked his sixth career win over a world No 1, with the last five all coming against Novak Djokovic.
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And he will now be hoping that he can repeat his performance against Alcaraz in Sunday’s final when he faces Djokovic. The Serb will return to No 1 in the world on Monday but for now, he is still ranked in second place. And Medvedev was amused to learn that his record against the 36-year-old was worse when he wasn’t the top male player.
“That’s funny, because as you say it, the statistic, now he’s now still not No 1. But, well, if we want to joke about it, I’m going to think, you know what, next Monday he’s No 1, so it’s like if I’m playing him as No 1,” he said. “Generally I don’t know why the statistic is like this. I don’t think it has anything to do with what happens in the matches. As I say, Sunday, I really don’t care if he’s No 1 or No 2. It’s Novak Djokovic and I want to try to win.”
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