This year’s Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz beat Danil Medvedev 6-4 6-4 in the third round-robin match of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin gaining revenge for his defeat to his Russian rival at the US Open.
“This match was really tough, but everything I did before this match I did almost perfectly, so I am really happy”, said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz bounced back from his defeat in the first match against Alexander Zverev by beating Andrey Rublev and Danil Medvedev in his next two matches.
“I spoke to my coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after the first match. Obviously, something was up. In the last tournaments, the people closest to me, and even those that don’t know me so well, could see that I did not have the same attitude as at the start of the season. It’s not a question of being tired or not. It’s about enjoying myself. I am stronger mentally. Juan Carlos opened my eyes. This is the last tournament of the year and I have to give everything I have. We are at the Nitto ATP Finals. We also spoke about the level and what I had to do. Once again, I realized that my game depends on whether or not I enjoy myself, whether or not I smile. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing for me. Obviously, the joy and the smile have returned to my game and I think that was reflected in the matches”, said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz will face a semifinal clash against Novak Djokovic for the fourth time this season. They are 2-2 in their four career head-to-head matches. In their first clash this year Djokovic beat Alcaraz 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 in the Roland Garros semifinal last June. Alcaraz avenged this defeat by beating Djokovic 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in last July’s Wimbledon final. Djokovic rallied from one set down to beat Alcaraz 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-4) at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. “It’s going to be one of the most difficult challenges that I am going to face. Novak is Novak. He is the best player in the world right now. He has lost just six matches this year. He is unbelievable. Hopefully it will be a repeat of what happened in the Wimbledon final. I am going to try and find my A-game. We will see what I did well in order to repeat it tomorrow. It will be a very mental game, and I want to start preparing tonight. I hope that Novak plays at a great level, his A-game. We are in the semifinals at the ATP Finals, a tournament he has won six times. He knows what it is to play in these rounds at events like this. I think that he will use the experience and he will play his best tennis. He will try to pressure me a lot in the match. He will be true to his style. So we are going to have to be ready for that. After my level the last couple of days, your mind starts thinking things. Right now, I think if I continue at this level, I will have a chance of winning the tournament”, said Alcaraz.
