Fresh from his Indian Wells final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev says beating Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is a tough task. Medvedev lost the Indian Wells final 6-7, 1-6 on Sunday for the second year running against young Spaniard Alcaraz.
While in January at the Australian Open, Medvedev was defeated in the final against Italian Jannik Sinner who claimed his maiden Grand Slam. Speaking to the Indian Wells press after the final, Medvedev spoke about the potential of both youngsters.
“I think at this moment, because everything can change, you know, there can be new young guys coming up,” said Medvedev. “There can be someone who is, I don’t know, 22 right now, like Luca Nardi I think 21, and suddenly maybe this year after this win he’s going to do some crazy things. You never know.
But Carlos and Jannik, for the moment, just them, they already established themselves to say we are here, we’re going to try to win as many tournaments as possible. Then it’s always a question, do they win 9, 10, 12 slams, which is amazing, or do they go for 25 to beat Novak, which is a bit more of a special number. And you never know. Who knows? ” At only 20 years old Alcaraz has already won two Grand Slam titles, The US Open and Wimbledon. In winning Indian Wells this year, he’s become only the second player to win five 1000 ATP Masters titles before 21, the only other player to do so was Rafael Nadal. Meanwhile, 22 year old Sinner, has already won two titles this year, the Australian Open and Rotterdam and has beaten Medvedev in their last four head to heads. Medvedev, who is currently ranked 4th in the ATP rankings behind Alcaraz (2nd) and Sinner (3rd), says both players have a bright future ahead.
“Maybe at 30 Carlos says, I’m tired of tennis, I stop, or maybe he’s going to play until he’s 45, and the medicine improves so much he can do it,” said Medvedev. “It’s tough to answer this question, but I’m sure that Carlos and Jannik will have a lot of slams. But until I play I hope I can sometimes try to beat them because it’s a very tough job, very tough task.” Medvedev begins his Miami title defence this week and has been drawn in the same half as Jannik Sinner.
