Daniil Medvedev may never return to No. 1 in the world or even win another major title, but if he continues to play like he did this week, he will have a chance to finish in the top five and even challenge for a major.
And, of course, there’s a mountain the size of Mount Everest climb Sinner and Alkaraz dominate men’s tennis, but even Sinner, after beating Medvedev in the Indian Wells final, was quick to admit on Sunday that the sport benefits when Medvedev is at his best.
“I do believe tennis needs him,” Sinner said. “His game is very unique. It’s great to see him back at this level. He’s improved a lot. Very aggressive down the stretch. He has two different game styles on serve and return. So, you know, you have to deal with that. To have him at this level again is great for the sport.”
Medvedev knows challenge will be difficult sinner and Alcaraz regularly, but he’s happy to do so this week even if he doesn’t win the title. He will return to the top 10 on Monday – a well-deserved reward for two weeks of incredible tennis in the California desert.
“I think overall, on a match-by-match basis, anyone can challenge them,” Medvedev said of Sinner and Alkaraz. “You saw Jacob [Mensik] Beating Janik in Doha, you saw me beating Carlos here, things like that. So on a game basis, many people can challenge. I think it’s wrong to say it’s just me, it’s just Novak or whatever, it’s just Sasha.
“But it’s definitely very tough, which is why when you get to the end of the season, they’re usually on 60 wins and, I don’t know, five or six losses. So it’s not an easy challenge and you just have to do your best.”
Medvedev played well in Sunday’s match, beating Sinner but failed to win the tiebreak with the Italian. He even took a 4-0 lead in the second set tiebreaker, but it didn’t hold up.
“It’s like a bittersweet feeling, it feels good what I did this week,” he said. “Of course I want to push him further, but it’s difficult.”
