It is tough to take your eyes off Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Both have rightfully been considered favourites to win the US Open title. While not being a pick can bother many players, 2021 US Open champion Danill Medvedev seems quite unfazed by being away from the limelight. The Russian tennis player right now just wants to focus on his game and produce his “best.”
“For sure, Carlos and Novak at the moment are the best two players in the world… My goal is to try to play my best, and if I play someone like Carlos or Novak, these two bring the best out of me,” Medvedev told CBS Sports.
With 6,260 points under his belt, third-placed Daniil Medvedev is significantly behind Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP rankings. Both Djokovic and Alcaraz currently have 9,800-odd points each. But Medvedev is well ahead of fourth-placed Holger Ruune, who has 4,790 points to his name.
“I’m somewhere there in the middle, trying to catch these guys but nobody can catch me at this moment from behind. But I think why we love tennis is because anyone can beat anyone. Imagine you just fell sick this day, or something hurts a little bit more. People won’t know about it but you can lose. So we are going to see this in the US Open, everyone can have trouble, everyone can have tough matches,” Medvedev said.
Daniil Medvedev recently had a chance to add a second Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet but the 27-year-old squandered the chance at Wimbledon. Facing world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semi-final, Medvedev had to concede a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 defeat. Medvedev currently trails Alcaraz 2-1 in their all-time series. The two met each other in the final of Indian Wells earlier this year in March and Medvedev had to suffer a 6–3, 6–2 loss at the hands of the young Spaniard in that contest.
Djokovic, on the other hand, also has an edge over Medvedev, in terms of head-to-head meetings. The Serbian great is leading by a margin of 5-9 against Medvedev. The Russian tennis player’s solitary Grand Slam triumph occurred after defeating Djokovic in the US Open final two years back. Medvedev had earned an emphatic 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 victory against Djokovic at the Flushing Meadows back then.
Appearing at this year’s US Open, Medvedev got the better of Hungary’s Attila Balazs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in the first round. Medvedev required a little more than an hour to qualify for the second round of the competition. Third-seeded Medvedev will face 29-year-old Aussie opponent Christopher O’Connell at the second round of the US Open.
