Medvedev: 'It must be the best version to defeat Djokovic'

"I said that I have to perform 11 points out of 10 to defeat Alcaraz," Medvedev said after the semi-final match with Carlos Alcaraz on September 8. "In the semi-finals, the three sets that I won, I all scored 11 points. The third set I lost because I only scored 9.5 or 10 points. Everyone felt that that was not enough to defeat Alcaraz. Against Novak, everything Same thing. He always plays better than the last time he faced off."

Medvedev once caused sadness for Djokovic in the 2021 US Open final. At that time, the Russian player won 3-0 and ended the Serbian senior's hope of winning the Calendar Slam (four Grand Slams in the same year). Since then, the two players have met five more times and Djokovic has won four of them.

"I beat Djokovic in the US Open final, then he beat me again at the Paris Masters in the next encounter," Medvedev said about Nole. "Alcaraz beat him in the Wimbledon final, but Djokovic won again in the Cincinnati Masters final. Novak will be the best version of himself next Sunday. So, I need to be the best version of myself from up to now, if you want to take him down."

Medvedev just caused a surprise in the semi-finals when he beat number one seed Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The Russian tennis player impressed his 20-year-old junior when, after the match, Alcaraz admitted his inability to find a solution against Medvedev. In this match, Medvedev won 82% of first serve points.

"Against Alcaraz, you have to serve well," Medvedev said about his performance against Alcaraz. "There is no other choice. If he can control your serve, he will pass you. I also hit dangerously on important points. Today was great, but next Sunday it must be the same." ".

Before meeting Alcaraz at the US Open, Medvedev lost both of his meetings with the Spanish tennis player in 2023, in the Indian Wells Masters final and the Wimbledon semi-finals. As for Djokovic, Medvedev won in the most recent confrontation, at the Dubai Championship earlier this year.

"After Djokovic lost to someone, he never played the same when he met that person again," Medvedev continued about Djokovic. "He's different from the rest, especially psychologically." The Russian tennis player also said that that is the reason Nole holds the record of 23 Grand Slams, 39 Masters 1000s and 389 weeks of being number one in the world.

Medvedev admitted that he must be mentally strong because Djokovic will be 10 times better than his previous loss. "If I want to continue to beat him, I have to be 10 times better than I was in the previous confrontation," the Russian tennis player shared. "I will try to do that."

The Russian tennis player said confidence is important in tennis, against big opponents. He is happy to defeat Alcaraz, but will still be disappointed to leave the US Open if he loses to Djokovic in the final. In case he defeats Nole, Medvedev believes that his confidence will increase in the following years of his career.