Daniil Medvedev explains why preparing to play Carlos Alcaraz is difficult

Daniil Medvedev believes preparing to face Carlos Alcaraz is difficult because playing the world No 1 requires “a little more risk” than other players.
The world No 3 highlighted the importance of finding the right balance by not being solely focused on a potential matchup with the Spaniard.
While Medvedev won his first meeting with Alcaraz in 2021, the 20-year-old has since become a very different proposition.
In the pair’s two encounters since, Alcaraz crushed Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in the Indian Wells final in March, before a similarly convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 triumph in the Wimbledon semi-finals last month.
The pair could meet in the final of this week’s ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. Top seed Alcaraz will face Jordan Thompson in his opening match, while third seed Medvedev will play Lorenzo Musetti.
Ahead of his appearance in Cincinnati, Medvedev spoke of how two-time major winner Alcaraz is affecting the way he prepares for matches.
“It’s always a balance. Because every time I practise 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!’”
The 27-year-old – a Cincinnati champion in 2019 – also discussed how he and his team observe the Spaniard’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!”