Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he doesn't want to play against Jannik Sinner in the 2024 China Open final when presented a choice.
The four-time Grand Slam champion made it to his first final since the Paris Olympics when he bested Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final match of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing.
It was a relatively straightforward match for the young Spaniard, who won in two sets, 7-5, 6-3. This week in Beijing is very important for him to boost his confidence, as he has struggled after the Olympic Games.
However, that now seems to be a thing of the past, as Alcaraz seems to be on top of his game, steamrolling past all of his opponents without any major difficulties.
Although he struggled a bit on his serve early in the match against Medvedev, he always found solutions, and after the match, Alcaraz admitted that he tried to stay focused despite losing a one-break advantage twice in the first set of the match.
"Well, I just try to keep going. I mean, I broke his serves a few times in the first set. After that, he broke my serve again. Yeah, I just try to think that, Okay, keep going. Maybe it means a few first serves that I had not to do it."
"Probably I made a few mistakes from the baseline that I had not to do it. But it's okay. I knew what I have to do. What I had to do is keep going, keep playing my tennis. The opportunities is going to show up again. Try to make it. That's what I thought when he broke my serve after I did it. Try to serve better, you know, in that moment."
So far, he didn't have to face a player ranked higher than him in Beijing, as there are only two players like that in the world. One of them is also in the Chinese capital, and Alcaraz might play against him in the final.
Jannik Sinner will play against Yunchaokete Bu, who is a home wild card, ranked 96th in the world. Following his win over Medvedev, Alcaraz was asked about who would be his ideal final opponent, and he was very honest about it.
"Obviously Bu (smiling). I'm not going to lie. Jannik is the best player in the world right now. I mean, Bu is playing a great tennis during the whole week, beating really top players. If I have to choose or I could say who is the best for me to play a final, if I want to win it, Bu."
Throughout his tennis career, Alcaraz maintained that he must beat the best if he wanted to be the best. He shared a similar sentiment when talking about his possible final opponent, saying he enjoys the battles against the best.
"As I always said, I really like the battles, the toughest match facing the best players in the world. So if I play against Jannik in the final, I will be happy, as well."
At the end of the day, Alcaraz must have a lot of confidence coming into the final match. He played a former World No. 1 in the semi-final and easily won, which was a crucial victory for him.
"Well, I think I played really well. Obviously, if I want to beat Daniil, I have to play really good tennis, high-quality tennis. I felt great on the court once again, so I'm really happy about it."
"I think I couldn't ask for a better semifinal, just to approach the final in a really good way. So really, really happy to be able to play my first final in Beijing."
Another factor that Alcaraz might want to rely on in the final can be crowd support. If he has to play Bu, he knows that the crowd will be against him, while they might back him against Sinner.
The China Open ends a bit untraditionally, during the week, as opposed to the traditional weekend finish of tournaments. Still, plenty of fans came out for his semi-final against Medvedev, and that's something he was really excited about.
"Well, I was surprised, honestly, when I stepped on the court and I saw almost a full crowd. I was surprised. I mean, on Tuesday, full crowd... I was happy to see a lot of people watching the match."
"Yeah, I think when I play Daniil, when I face Daniil, we both show really good tennis, really good rallies. The people enjoy that a lot. Yeah, I'm going to say thanks to that people, start to look matches, because I think, as I said, we showed really good rallies, shots, points, good defense, good attacking."
"I think we mix a bit of everything. I think it's sweet for the spectator, I'm going to say. The atmosphere here, once again it was crazy. I enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully, I am going to feel that energy in the final again."
Funnily enough, it seems that the young Spaniard isn't the only one who wants to avoid having to play someone. Speaking after the match, Daniil Medvedev revealed what he said Alcaraz at the net, as the two shared a good laugh.
Medvedev revealed that he told Alcaraz that when he faces him the next time, he will paint his hair blonde, like Botic van de Zandschulp, who bested the Spaniard at the US Open this year.
"I told Carlos next match I'm going to paint my hair blond and put 'Botic' here. Maybe this can help. 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)."
It seems that both players left the match in a very good mood. While Alcaraz will now prepare for the final match, Medvedev will already focus on competing at the Shanghai Masters, where he will want to go a couple of steps further than in Beijing.
"Coming here, I was not feeling great in confidence, in the approach to my tennis. I won three great matches, playing good against three good players in two sets. I played very good against Carlos. I'm looking forward to Shanghai to try to continue this positive dynamic. That's what I'm looking for, yeah."