Carlos Alcaraz fired a warning to Daniil Medvedev during his post-match press conference after booking the 2024 Indian Wells Open final.
The first of the two semi-finals was between Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. It was delayed a couple of times due to rain, making it finish much later than anticipated, but ultimately, Alcaraz beat Sinner with a tremendous comeback.
The Spaniard didn't really know whom he would be playing in the final at that time because the second semi-final was yet to be played. It was Daniil Medvedev against Tommy Paul, so it was a rather tricky matchup to predict, but most people assumed that the Russian would prevail.
After the match, the world no. 2 responded to a question about playing Medvedev, admitting that he knows how to play and beat him.
"If I play against Daniil, I know how I have to play against him. I have played many times, final against him last year. So I know pretty well the tactics against him, but I'm not gonna tell you guys the tactics. Sorry. But I know very, very well how to play against him (smiling)."
Many might think that his statement comes off as arrogant, but the Spaniard truly does know how to play Medvedev. He has bested him a few times already, including in their most recent match at the ATP Finals.
He also comfortably bested him in the previous Indian Wells final. There are just a lot of things that suit him in this matchup, even more so on a slower court like the one in Indian Wells.
Medvedev is not a huge fan of the court and certainly hasn't looked all that impressive this week. All in all, a lot of what Alcaraz does well comes from his confidence in himself, and it's great to see after months of self-doubting.