Daniil Medvedev can relate to Carlos Alcaraz's current mini-crisis, have been through the same road a year ago.
Medvedev was unsurprised by the Spanaird's current slump which has seen him take three successive losses for the first time in over two years. Medvedev and Alcaraz feature in the same group at the ATP Finals and will square off in a potentially pivotal final round-robin match.
The Russian was asked to assess Alcaraz's defeat to Alexander Zverev, which was the 20-year-old's ATP Finals debut, and which didn't go as planned. Medvedev stated that a slump of this magnitude was bound to happen and that even the best players are not immune to setbacks.
The former ATP Finals champion opined that his rival's confidence is at an all-time low and was not surprised that he lost the match on Monday. Medvedev believes the faster he recovers from his current struggles, it will transmit to better results.
"If you would ask me two, three months ago, for sure. Tennis is very, very tricky sport. At this moment, for whatever reason, we feel that Carlos plays just a little bit slower. He doesn't have the same confidence he had throughout the whole year."
"This can happen to everyone. This even happened to Novak when he was younger. The question is, how fast is he going to recover. Is it going to be this tournament or next year."
While he was not surprised that Alcaraz lost the match on his current form, Medvedev acknowledged that the stats sheet painted a very concerning situation for the Spanish sensation who had a lower ground stroke speed than Zverev in the second set.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old was full of praise for the German who thrives on fast conditions and on an indoor setup. The pair will battle each other on Wednesday for the 18th time. Medvedev leads their head-to-head 10-7, winning four of their five clashes in 2023.
"When he lost the second set, they showed the speed of the strokes, groundstrokes. Sascha was like 10 kilometers higher than Carlos. This is very surprising. In general, when I saw the match, in the beginning, we felt that Carlos was not playing his best. Sascha also. So I'm not surprised at all."
"In the end, it turned out to be a great fight and a great match. No surprises. Sascha can play well also, serve well. It's going to be interesting to play him for the 18th time."
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