“If Jannik has very big power, Carlos has even more” – Medvedev
The Russian explains how each have improved over recent years, and which one he least prefers playing
Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic
Daniil Medvedev has given his verdict on two of the game’s brightest young stars, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
The Russian is drawn in the same half as the world No 1 Sinner and defending champion Alcaraz. The pair are on track to meet in the semi-finals of Wimbledon this year, but all going well for Medvedev, he’ll spoil the party and overcome both of them on his own way to the final.
He admits that this is a big challenge, with the No 5 seed outlining some of the improvements he’s seen in both players’ games after his own second-round victory over Alexandre Muller.
Medvedev impressed by Alcaraz’s growth
“Carlos has a very big quality, like power quality,” explained Medvedev.
“When he was really young, like 17, he could miss a lot. He has these crazy shots, but at least he misses. Now when he’s in the zone, he doesn’t miss much.”
The Russian went on to describe how this was on display at this year’s Roland-Garros, which the Spaniard won.
“You could see that some moments he was missing, struggling. That’s amazing because he played two big, top players, Jannik and Sascha,” Medvedev said. “Even not playing his best and missing, every time he would hit a rocket in the court, the other guy would be in such trouble.”
“That’s his big quality, very, very strong shots, doesn’t matter little bit the position.
“He’s very easy generating power from slow balls, which sometimes many players have trouble. You can use it. You play like a slow ball, you know at least you have the chance to stay in the rally. With Carlos, no. There is no chance.
“That’s his biggest quality in my opinion.”
Sinner similar to Alcaraz
When asked how Medvedev would compare Sinner’s game to Alcaraz’s, Medvedev responded:
“A bit different, but kind of same. Big quality of strokes. In a different way, like the motion is different, so the way the ball is coming to you is different. I would say that even if Jannik has very big power, Carlos has even more.”
As with Alcaraz, Medvedev is impressed by how Sinner has been able to develop his game over recent years.
“He managed to find, since little bit the end of last year, in Canada I would say where he won his first Masters, missing less,” the Russian continued.
“We always knew it’s tough to play him. He can hit winners from every position of the court, but he could miss. Now he doesn’t miss much. He can hit winners from every position of the court. It’s not easy.
“In order to beat him, you know you have to step out there, you need to be able to hit winners from any position of the court yourself. You need to be able to support the rally.”
No fear for Medvedev ahead of potential matchups at Wimbledon
With a potential quarter-final looming against Sinner if both win their next two matches, Medvedev says he’s not fearful, despite the strengths he and Alcaraz hold.
“[I’m] not fearing them. I did lose a lot to them. It’s okay, they have big quality. Every time I go, no fear. I just want to go for it. Like same with Jannik. We played two times this year. In Australian Open, no fear. In Miami, no fear. Two different results.
“It’s not easy to play them, but it’s a great challenge. They are great champions already of the sport. They have big careers ahead of them to make history.”
On who is better out of the two, Medvedev refuses to be drawn into a prediction. However, he does believe that Alcaraz has a better quality of shot in comparison to the world No 1.
“Very, very tough to say. I would say Carlos, I never saw something like this. I would say bit more up and down than Jannik.
“I would say if we talk strictly, it’s not even talent, ‘talent’ is not the right word, but I would say quality of the shots.”
Before Medvedev gets the chance to test himself against either one, however, he’ll first need to survive a challenging match against the dangerous Jan-Lennard Struff in round three on Friday.
