Daniil Medvedev joked that he would take drastic measures to beat Carlos Alcaraz the next time they face each other following his latest defeat to the Spaniard. Medvedev was swept aside in straight sets in the last four of the China Open, with Alcaraz sailing through to the final.
The result marked Medvedev’s fourth straight defeat to Alcaraz and the Russian explained his drastic plan to make amends in his post-match press conference.
He joked that he would dress up at Botic van de Zandschulp, who claimed a surprise win over Alcaraz at the US Open, the next time he faces his Spanish rival on the court.
“I told Carlos next match I’m going to paint my hair blond and put ‘Botic’ here,” said Medvedev. “Maybe this can help. As I say, today I played pretty well. I don’t see how I could beat him today on a given day today.
“Yeah, next match I need to try something. Maybe throw him off a little bit. But it’s a joke, of course.”
Medvedev fought hard but was outplayed in key moments by Alcaraz, who ensured his quality shone through to wrap up a 7-5 6-3 triumph. He will face either Jannik Sinner or Yunchaokete Bu in the final, which will take place on Wednesday.
Reflecting on his performance, Medvedev said: “Tough match for me because I felt that I played really well. I felt that, yeah, there were a lot of good, positive things for me. At the same time, yeah, it’s very, very tough to play Carlos when he’s in top form.
“So yeah, I played a pretty good match. I lost. That’s not that often it happens to me. Against top players it can happen. Yeah, not much more I can say.
“I love it in China. I love Chinese fans. I feel like they love me. That’s probably one of not many places in the world! When we went on the court, for sure it’s a bit more noise for Carlos. When we were in Laver Cup, the noise for Carlos was insane.
“And here, yeah, I felt that it was pretty even, so I loved it there. Honestly, it was a fun match to play. It’s also rare that I’m going to say something like this after a defeat, but it was a fun match to play. I enjoyed it.”
