Daniil Medvedev divulges moment he realised the potential of ‘unbelievable’ Carlos Alcaraz
Daniil Medvedev has revealed the moment that made him recognise the potential of Carlos Alcaraz and described the talent the Spaniard possesses as “pretty unbelievable.”
The 2021 US Open champion highlighted the “crazy” start Alcaraz has made to his career and declared that it is still too early to “make any conclusions” about the 20-year-old.
Medvedev and Alcaraz have faced off five times and the Spaniard holds a 3-2 advantage, having won three of the pair’s four encounters in 2023.
Alcaraz has already achieved remarkable success, having claimed two Grand Slam titles and become the youngest player to be ranked ATP world No 1 after winning the 2022 US Open.
The world No 2 has endured a more challenging period since his stunning triumph at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships in July – which was the last title he won. The Spaniard reached his only final since his All England Club victory at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
The 20-year-old was beaten in four sets by Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Australian Open last month. He is currently in action at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, where he will face Nicolas Jarry in the semi-finals on Saturday.
READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev admits he is ‘surprised’ by Carlos Alcaraz’s biggest goal confession
In an interview with Eurosport, Medvedev discussed the development of his young rival and shared an anecdote about when he first became aware of Alcaraz’s talent.
“He started off crazy, at his age. Youngest world No 1 in history, that says it all. That’s why right now when he is losing maybe just a bit more matches than before, you see people starting to say ‘oh maybe he lost his confidence a little bit’,” the world No 3 said.
“He’s still 20 years old, very young, so it’s normal that sometimes in his career he’s going to have some ups and downs. But the talent that he has is pretty unbelievable. We knew straightaway when he came on tour.
“I remember he was somewhere close to the top 100, and he was hitting with [Andrey] Rublev. Andrey is one of the hardest hitters in tennis, and at the time I think Carlos was 17. And I was looking and I was like ‘wow, he hits stronger than Andrey.’ This guy has good potential.
“So it’s going to be interesting to see how he copes with all the things that come with playing good at tennis, a lot of sponsors, a lot of interest, stuff like this.
“Some guys are easy with it, some guys have pressure and handle it differently. I think he’s still young to make any conclusions, so let’s see how he goes later.”
READ MORE: ‘Comparing Carlos Alcaraz with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer is not reality’
