Alcaraz's French Open Triumph Shows He Can Win 'Not Playing His Best' Says Medvedev

Friday, 05 July 2024 at 08:00

byZachary Wimer

Daniil Medvedev was recently asked about Carlos Alcaraz, and he explained what makes facing him so difficult.

Alcaraz is a three-time Grand Slam champion who also became the youngest world number one ever on the ATP Tour early in his tennis career. That alone shows how good of a tennis player he is, but one thing we, as viewers, don't really know is what makes him so hard to play.

Obviously, we can see his qualities during a match, but Medvedev recently broke down what it looks like when you're standing across the net from him. The Russian played Alcaraz and knows how it is.

"Carlos has a very big power quality. When he was like 17, he could miss a lot. So you’re like ‘ok, he has these crazy shots, but at least he misses.’ When he’s in the zone now he doesn’t miss much."

— Medvedev on Alcaraz<br>

"You could see at Roland Garros in some moments he was missing and struggling, and that’s amazing, because he played two big top players Jannik and Zverev.. even not playing his best and missing.."

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Alcaraz struggled quite a bit at the recent Roland Garros, but he still won the clay-court major. That's one of the qualities Medvedev mentioned because winning while not playing the best tennis is not a luxury for all tennis players.

Very few actually have it, but Alcaraz's power is another thing that makes it very difficult to face him. The ability to hit those shots is also something not many players have.

"Every time he 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 the position. It’s easy for him to generate power from slow balls… sometimes many players have trouble… that’s his biggest quality in my opinion."