Exclusive: Daniil Medvedev hoping to follow Carlos Alcaraz’s example in bounceback season ahead of Australian Open

Daniil Medvedev is looking to take from inspiration from Carlos Alcaraz as he aims for a bounceback season in 2023.

Medvedev made the Australian Open final in early 2022 and reached world No. 1 for the first time.

But he wasn’t able to stay at the top of the rankings, only winning two titles across the season and finishing at No. 7 after a group-stage exit at the Nitto ATP Finals.

He was also unable to play Wimbledon due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

Medvedev believes he is capable of challenging for major honours again, and thinks Alcaraz set an example he could follow when he won the US Open after an average hard-court summer.

“When you have confidence from winning matches you are more of a favourite for a Grand Slam, but Carlos before the US Open was not playing his best tennis and with the talent and game he has, he was able to do it,” Medvedev told Eurosport.

“That’s what I think about me. I know I can play good tennis, I know I can beat anybody on a good day, and I know I am capable of winning Grand Slams because I did it against Novak [Djokovic] when he was going for the Calendar Slam [at the 2021 US Open].

“I know I have it in me, I just have to find a way to make it happen more often than I did in 2022.”

Medvedev’s career highlight was winning the US Open in 2021, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final.

He came agonisingly close to lifting a second Grand Slam title earlier this year when he was beaten in the Australian Open final after leading Rafael Nadal by two sets to love.

“That’s one of the matches I didn’t really rewind because he just played too good I felt,” said Medvedev.

“I had 0-40 and I could have played it better but that’s not where the match slipped away from me. He was pretty good that day, especially the more the match went on. It was not easy for me the Australian Open in general, but I love Australia and I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes this year.

“I made two finals and had some great results there. I have good memories about Australia but the final was not easy. The loss itself tennis wise, I was not that disappointed, but it was still a loss from 2-0 up in sets. It was not easy to digest.

“I don’t know how it affected me and if it still does, I have no idea. I feel like I left it far behind a long time ago but you never know, maybe it sits somewhere there really deep inside. The only thing I can do is work mentally and prepare for the next Australian Open better.”

Reflecting on his performances this year, Medvedev says he felt a change of approach towards the end of the season helped him improve.

“I changed my game more because of the feeling of what works the best. There was a moment last year where I was like, I have to be more defensive, I’m too aggressive now and I felt my opponents actually liked it.

“I would say both matches against Nick [Kyrgios] I was too aggressive. It’s tough to be defensive against him because you get aces and don’t have much to play with, but there were some matches in the year where I felt I had to be more defensive and that’s what I started doing at the end of the year, and I felt I was playing better.”

Medvedev is playing this week at the Diriyah Tennis Cup in Saudi Arabia.

He is joined at the exhibition event by four other top-10 players – No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, world No. 8 Andrey Rublev, world No. 9 Taylor Fritz and world No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz – along with British No. 1 Cameron Norrie and Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios.

The 2023 Australian Open starts on January 16.

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