Carlos Alcaraz has been told he has the same effect as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal when entering tournaments. Daniil Medvedev said the 20-year-old was the title favourite everywhere he went as the Russian spoke following his early exit from the Shanghai Masters. It comes after Alcaraz snubbed Djokovic and labelled Medvedev the man to beat on hard courts right now – a claim that has already been proven wrong following the world No 3’s loss in Shanghai.
Medvedev suffered a 7-6(8) 6-2 defeat at the hands of Sebastian Korda on Sunday, with the American getting a win over the 27-year-old for the second time this year. The world No 3 came into the Shanghai Masters off the back of reaching last week’s final in Beijing.
He was also the most recent champion in Shanghai, winning the tournament last time it was played in 2019. As the second seed this year, Medvedev received a bye into the second round but ended up winning just one match before crashing out to Korda. Following his defeat, the Russian named Alcaraz as the title favourite, comparing him to Djokovic and Nadal.
“Tough to say. I would say, in general, if we talk like about shape right now, Carlos is just, at the moment, he’s, let’s say, the player like Novak, Rafa were before,” Medvedev said. “Every time he’s in the tournament he’s the biggest, or when Novak is there, one of the two biggest contenders for the title.”
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The 27-year-old also named another contender – Jannik Siner, who beat him to win the China Open title last week. Medvedev added: “Jannik is in great shape, let’s see how physically he can adapt to also playing Beijing last week. So I would say they are the two biggest favourites.
“But at the same time, that’s why we like tennis. Maybe Jannik loses today, Carlos loses tomorrow, and it’s all over. But, yeah, so, let’s see. That’s why tennis is interesting, we can never know.”
For now, it’s Medvedev’s Shanghai hopes that are all over. And it contradicts a strong statement made by Alcaraz. In a recent interview, the world No 2 was asked who the player to beat was on a hard court currently, also naming the likes of Djokovic and Sinner before snubbing them for the “main” man, Medvedev.
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“Medvedev, I think Medvedev is the one,” the Spaniard told Tennis TV. “Medvedev, Djokovic, Sinner. [Alexander] Zverev is doing great but I think the main player is Medvedev.” With the Russian’s early exit in Shanghai, Alcaraz’s claim proved to be untrue.
The Spaniard himself can show that he is the man to beat, along with Sinner, as they are both still alive in the Masters event. And when Djokovic returns in Paris later this month, he will be keen to prove that he is very much the top dog weeks after winning a historic 24th Grand Slam title at the US Open.
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