After Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets on Tuesday evening in the China Open semi-finals, something funny happened.
Medvedev, who had lost, covered his mouth and began whispering to Alcaraz. The 28-year-old gestured to his chest, then his hair. Alcaraz found it hilarious and cracked up.
“I told Carlos next match I'm going to paint my hair blond and put 'Botic' here. Maybe this can help,” Medvedev later said. “Today I played pretty well. I don't see how I could beat him today… Next match I need to try something. Maybe throw him off a little bit. But it's a joke, of course.”
Medvedev referenced Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who stunned Alcaraz in the second round of the US Open. The Spaniard has not lost a set en route to the Beijing final.
Although Medvedev fell short to Alcaraz in the ATP 500 semi-final, he was positive about his efforts in Beijing. The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings defeated Gael Monfils, Adrian Mandarin and Flavio Cobolli.
“The hard-court season, after the Olympic Games, et cetera, was not perfect for me. US Open was a bit better. Then Laver Cup was two tough losses. Okay, it was third-set tie-break,” Medvedev said. “Coming here, I was not feeling great in confidence, in the approach to my tennis. I won three great matches, playing good against three good players in two sets. I played very good against Carlos.”
[ATP APP]
Now Medvedev will turn his attention to the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he will try to earn his first title of the season. The fifth seed will face Thiago Seyboth Wild or qualifier Daniel Evans in his opening match.
“I’m looking forward to Shanghai to try to continue this positive dynamic,” Medvedev said. “That's what I'm looking for.”
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