Exclusive: Daniil Medvedev reveals 'wow' moment that alerted him to Carlos Alcaraz potential, talks Olympics
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Updated 16/02/2024 at 09:07 GMT
Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz already have a storied history together, and they will write a new chapter when they join forces on Team Europe for the 2024 Laver Cup. Medvedev, speaking to Eurosport, says Alcaraz has "pretty unbelievable talent" and also gave his - contrasting - opinion on the Spaniard's recent comments about wanting an Olympic gold more than a Grand Slam title in 2024.
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In an exclusive interview with Eurosport, Daniil Medvedev has spoken of the "wow" moment he discovered the potential of Carlos Alcaraz.
Medvedev and Alcaraz will share a locker room later this year when the Laver Cup 2024 takes place in Berlin, after the pair - along with Alexander Zverev - were the first players named in Bjorn Borg's Team Europe squad.
But it's their rivalry on tour that has also captured the imagination, with two of their last three meetings taking place in the latter stages of Grand Slams - Alcaraz beating Medvedev on his run to the Wimbledon title last year, before Medvedev got his revenge at the very next major, the US Open.
However, it was some time ago that Medvedev first cottoned on to the abilities of the precocious Spaniard.
"He started off crazy, at his age," Medvedev told Eurosport. "Youngest world No. 1 in history, that says it all.
"That's why right now when he is losing maybe just a bit more matches than before, you see people starting to say 'oh maybe he lost his confidence a little bit'.
"He's still 20 years old, very young, so it's normal that sometimes in his career he's going to have some ups and downs.
"But the talent that he has is pretty unbelievable. We knew straightaway when he came on tour.
"I remember he was somewhere close to the top 100, and he was hitting with [Andrey] Rublev. Andrey is one of the hardest hitters in tennis, and at the time I think Carlos was 17.
"And I was looking and I was like 'wow, he hits stronger than Andrey'. This guy has good potential.
"So it's going to be interesting to see how he copes with all the things that come with playing good at tennis, a lot of sponsors, a lot of interest, stuff like this.
"Some guys are easy with it, some guys have pressure and handle it differently. I think he's still young to make any conclusions, so let's see how he goes later."
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Alcaraz, currently in Buenos Aires at the Argentina Open, spoke in the preamble to that tournament about how, this year, he would rather win an Olympic gold medal than a Grand Slam.
It was a comment that provoked some discourse around the hegemony of titles in tennis, and Medvedev gave his - contrasting - opinion.
He said: "I'm in a way surprised [at Alcaraz's comments]. I wonder why he said it, was it because he was watching the Olympics when he was young, or for different reasons, because it's actually interesting.
"When I played the Olympics in Tokyo [in 2021], I really wanted to play well, and [after losing to Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals] I was very, very disappointed and for a week I was really feeling bad, which doesn't happen to me all the time after lost matches.
"So it's a very big event which I think every player dreams of winning, but I do think that Grand Slams - in my opinion - have the edge and are a bit more important in tennis.
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"Grand Slams are important, Olympics are important, ATP Finals are important. And I think what is the same in all these tournaments, is that when you're there, you feel like 'wow', to win it I need to be at my best level and it's going to be a huge victory if I do it. And that is the difference to some other tournaments."
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