London [UK], July 11 : Ahead of his Wimbledon semifinal clash against Daniil Medvedev, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz hopes to be at his best and secure a victory against the Russian in a repeat of the 2023 final-four clash in the tournament.
The third-seed Alcaraz will be playing Medvedev on Friday.
Last year, he dropped just nine games en route to his win over Medvedev. But this time, he is more cautious as his opponent is fresh after a win over world number one Jannik Sinner, whom Alcaraz acknowledged as the "best player" in the world right now.
Alcaraz advanced to the semis following a win over America's Tommy Paul by 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
"[Medvedev] is a really great player," said Alcaraz as quoted by the ATP website.
"The same semi-final as last year and hopefully I'm going to get the same result. He just beat Jannik Sinner, the best player right now, so I know he is in really good shape," he added.
"I have to play my best. I have to believe in myself and try to keep going if I want to beat him. It is going to be a difficult one, but I am going to enjoy it," he added.
Carlos enjoys a pyschological advantage over Medvedev, leading 4-2 in their ATP head-to-head record.
Medvedev avenged his loss to Alcaraz by defeating him last September at the US Open in four sets. The Russian has also seemed to have identified an area of his game where he needs to do better in order to have a chance against the young Spaniard.
"I have to serve better. That is still the most important thing on grass. You serve aces, you serve on the line, you are less in trouble, and you feel better. That is where you can put pressure on his serve," Medvedev said.
"He (Alcaraz) is a tough player. He can hit strong. He can slice. He can dropshot. He can volley. He knows how to play tennis. Just need to be at my best, like kind of how [I played against Sinner] and try to win," concluded the Russian.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor