Rising star Carlos Alcaraz has impressed with his game and has all the arrows in his quiver. The Spaniard has a rocket forehand, covers the court well and one of the most potent weapons in his armory is his drop shot, which he plays with great precision, disguise, and guile.
Alcaraz has great game awareness and he has already bested the best players in the world. One of them is Daniil Medvedev, who has first-hand experience of what is it like to face the talented youngster.
Medvedev was recently beaten by Alcaraz in the final of the Indian Wells in straight sets in the final.
“They are very disguised,” Medvedev said of the Spaniard’s drop shot as quoted by ATP tour. “One out of two he’s going to make a dropshot, but the one he doesn’t make, it’s going to be a bomb forehand, so you can’t just run for it because then it’s going to be a winner. I’m going to be interested to play him more and more to try and see how I can handle this part better.”
In fact, Medvedev was on a roll with a 19-match winning streak but it was broken by Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final.
“I remember against [Carlos] in Indian Wells, I was like, ‘Yeah, I was not expecting this, the drop shot from this position!’ Medvedev said. “Then the next week in Miami I think a lot of guys maybe saw the final, so they started to do only drop shots against me. It’s not the same. It’s like, ‘Okay, continue doing it, I’m there!’ [and] against [Carlos], I’m not there. He’s playing great and everyone knows it. If you have him in your draw, it’s scary.”
Meanwhile, the Russian will face either Andy Murray or Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori in the Round of 64 on Saturday in the Madrid Open. Medvedev is hopeful of a better performance on clay this season.
“It’s definitely different,” Medvedev said. “I would say it’s a little bit like Roland Garros clay where it’s kind of on a harder surface. Also altitude, so the balls are flying. What I see from results of many people, I should be able to actually play better here than other clay court tournaments. So far, I was not able to do it. But every year is a new opportunity. This year is another one, and I’m going to try to just play my best and hopefully play some good tennis.”
