Daniil Medvedev won’t change deep positioning after Carlos Alcaraz loss in Indian Wells final

Daniil Medvedev says one defeat against Carlos Alcaraz is not enough for him to rethink his tactical approach – but a second could force his hand.

Medvedev saw his 19-match winning run ended in the Indian Wells final by Alcaraz, who replaced Novak Djokovic as world No. 1 with the victory.

Alcaraz took advantage of Medvedev’s deep court positioning, especially on service returns, with serve-and-volley attempts and plenty of drop shots.

Despite the one-sided result, Medvedev is not convinced he will change his approach when he meets Alcaraz again.

“It’s possible, but I’m not sure if I would do it,” he said ahead of the Miami Open.

“For sure if I lose two matches in a row staying back and [I get beaten] just as easy I have to definitely change something. But one match is not enough.”

World No. 5 Medvedev will play his opening match at the Miami Open against Roberto Carballes Baena. He couldn’t meet defending champion Alcaraz again until the final.

Conditions in Miami are expected to faster than Indian Wells, and Medvedev thinks that could favour him.

“I’ll only have to wait for a match on faster hard courts to see if my court positioning will work when the ball is flying faster through the air and the opponent won’t have as much time to play serve and volley and play from the baseline,” he said.

“During the match [against Alcaraz] there was a small time when I tried to play a little more aggressive and closer to the baseline. But on those one or two games he was serving bombs so that didn’t help me. And it’s not that easy to change things up during a match.”

Medvedev had an up-and-down 2022 season but has looked back to his best this year, reeling off three titles in a row before losing in the final at Indian Wells.

He has a 23-4 win-loss record this season and is back in the top five in the rankings after slipping down to No. 12.

“I managed to get back in the zone, which I didn’t really have for all of 2022, when I was less consistent,” he said.

“I would have some good matches or tournaments but out of nowhere I would have one bad match. I’ve managed to avoid that the past four weeks. I have no idea how I have done it, but I am really happy and want to continue.”

Alcaraz will play Facundo Bagnis in his first match in Miami on Friday and needs to win the title to stay as world No. 1 ahead of Djokovic.

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