New York — Daniil Medvedev has enjoyed the budding rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic like everyone else, but said he hopes to crash their party at the US Open and play the role of disrupter this fortnight.
World No 1 Alcaraz, the defending champion in New York, and second-ranked Djokovic, a 23-times Major winner, have won the last five Grand Slams and created huge expectations for a possible US Open showdown in the final.
“I think it’s great for tennis that we have these two guys playing against each other right now,” said Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion.
“It’s a great story, but then the tournament starts and hopefully we can — when I say ‘we’, I mean me personally or someone else — we’re going to try to beat them and stop them from playing each other.
“Consciously, I don’t think about it. I just try to win. That’s the most important [thing]. But unconsciously, I feel like many times I was playing good in this role. Hopefully it can help me this week, these two weeks.”
Medvedev, 27, has won five titles in 2023 with triumphs in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Rome. The Russian world No 3 reached the Wimbledon semifinals in July, losing to ultimate champion Alcaraz.
“I think that’s normal we talk about them,” added Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in the final to win the US Open title two years ago.
“I do think we still talk about me. I’m not feeling too bad, but I’m going to try. The goal is, after this US Open, that we talk about me, so I’m going to try to do it.
“Two years ago, I managed to play definitely one of, if not the best, match of my life. I want to try to do it again.”
Medvedev will begin his campaign against Hungary’s Attila Balazs on Tuesday.
Reuters
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