ATP Beijing – Daniil Medvedev no longer has the solution against Alcaraz, but he still has humor

Sacred Daniil Medvedev. The Russian is truly a character apart on the circuit. Intelligent, funny, spicy, we need more people like him. Tuesday, against Carlos Alcaraz, he had one of those outings of which he has the secret. With his executioner, first. He whispered a few words in his ear during the handshake following match point, and Alcaraz laughed heartily. Only with Medvedev can we experience something like this.

A little later, at a press conference, the Muscovite shared with everyone his words which made Alcaraz hilarious. “I told Carlos that next time I’m going to dye my hair blonde and put “Botic” on it, maybe that will help me“, he said, referring to Botic Van de Zandschulp, Alcaraz’s faller in the second round of the US Open.

Humor is Medvedev’s last weapon against the man who has just beaten him for the sixth time in eight confrontations. Carlos Alcaraz has especially emerged victorious from their last four duels in less than a year, at the Masters at the end of 2023, then at Indian Wells, Wimbledon and Beijing this season. Four matches, four defeats and only one set taken out of ten played by Gilles Cervara’s protégé, who is no longer far from total helplessness.

“I think I played pretty well today, yet believes the winner of the US Open 2021. But I don’t see how I could beat him today, on a ‘normal’ day. Yeah, maybe next game I’ll try something new to mess with him a little. But it’s a joke, of course“. As for the “Botic” and the blonde dye, no one doubts it. But for the rest, he’s not joking. We, too, don’t really see how he could get away with it under “normal” circumstances. “.

Especially serving like this. This once almost fatal weapon seems to have stalled with Daniil Medvedev in recent months. He serves a lot fewer aces on the first ball and his second hurts less. He serves less quickly, less forcefully, less well. Whether it comes from him or from external elements, like bullets, it’s a fact. On Tuesday, he was broken five times. In eleven games, that’s still a lot. Far too much, in any case, to hope to come out on top against Carlos Alcaraz.

Despite everything, he wants to take something positive from his time in the Chinese capital. He leaves Beijing better than he arrived. “Coming here, he believesI didn’t feel super confident in the way I approached my tennis. I won three very good matches, playing good tennis against three good players, in two sets each time. And I played very well against Carlos. So I’m looking forward to Shanghai to try to maintain this positive dynamic.”

He needs it. After Shanghai, will come the indoor season, usually favorable to Daniil Medvedev. For now, in 2024, he has no titles. A real problem for him all the same, since he has always won at least two tournaments per year between 2018 and 2023. A blank year would therefore constitute a real step backwards for him. He is always constant. As proof, he occupies fourth place in the Race despite his lack of victories. But something is missing. Especially against current big names like Carlos Alcaraz. At worst, he will always have self-deprecation to laugh about it.