Daniil Medvedev reveals what he told Carlos Alcaraz in hilarious net exchange after China Open clash
Daniil Medvedev has divulged what he said to Carlos Alcaraz at the net after losing to the Spaniard in the semi-finals of the 2024 China Open.
The world No 5 was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Alcaraz in the last four of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing — his third defeat to the 21-year-old star this year and sixth loss from the pair’s eight encounters.
Medvedev lost a tight opening set featuring five breaks of serve, before he was broken twice during a second set in which he received treatment for an injury.
Following the entertaining contest, Medvedev made Alcaraz laugh during their handshake at the net.
Any guesses on what they were talking about @DaniilMedwed @carlosalcaraz #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/YBwFl9Vauj
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 1, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz News
The 28-year-old Russian revealed afterwards he jokingly told Alcaraz he would disguise himself as Botic van de Zandschulp the next time the pair face off. Alcaraz suffered a shock second round defeat to van de Zandschulp at the US Open last month.
“I told Carlos next match I’m going to paint my hair blonde and put ‘Botic’ here (on his chest). Maybe this can help,” Medvedev told the media.
“As I say, today I played pretty well. I don’t see how I could beat him today on a given day today. Yeah, next match I need to try something. Maybe throw him off a little bit. But it’s a joke, of course (smiling).”
The match was played in good spirits and, despite the scoreline, Medvedev was clearly enjoying himself as he was seen smiling between points.
Early in the second set, Medvedev comically pretended he was going to collapse to the ground after Alcaraz accidentally hit him with a forehand.
In his press conference, the 2021 US Open winner confirmed he had been having fun on court.
“It’s rare that I’m going to say something like this after a defeat but it was a fun match to play. I enjoyed it,” Medvedev said.
Alcaraz highlighted the importance of not changing tactics when an opponent is injured when discussing the leg issue Medvedev picked up midway during the second set.
“Yeah well sometimes you think that, ‘Okay it’s done’, but it’s not done. So you have to keep fighting, you have to keep playing the same way you were playing before and just forget about the opponent,” the four-time major champion said.
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