Daniil Medvedev said he wasn’t bothered about Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz taking away all of the attention at the US Open as he won his opening match in dominant fashion. The 2021 champion in Flushing Meadows needed just 74 minutes to defeat Attila Balazs 6-1 6-1 6-0. It comes after Medvedev said he wanted to steal the limelight at the US Open by the end of the fortnight.
Medvedev is back in New York two years after his title triumph as he seeks his second Grand Slam crown. The Russian was once seen as the main threat to Djokovic’s dominance – defeating him in the 2021 final and becoming the first man outside of the Big Four to reach the world No 1 spot in 18 years.
But Alcaraz has since taken his place, going on to win two Grand Slam titles in the last year and becoming the youngest world No 1 in ATP history. Fans are now eager to see Alcaraz and Djokovic face off in the US Open final but Medvedev will be hoping to spoil the party by lifting the title instead.
For now, the world No 3 says he doesn’t care that the top two players are in the limelight as their achievements warranted it. “I don’t care. It’s normal that Carlos and Novak are the biggest names,” Medvedev said after his first-round win.
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“They’re farther in the points, have more Grand Slams. This year they played some amazing finals.” But Medvedev was still hoping to disrupt their dominance, as the Russian could face Alcaraz in the semi-final and Djokovic in the final.
He continued: “My goal is to try to play well and get either to where they are, which means the semi-final, or if they lose, to still get there and play somebody else. And to try to win. That’s the only thing I can do.”
Medvedev has already made it clear that he wants to get the tennis world talking about him once again with a strong showing in New York. Ahead of the tournament, the 27-year-old said: “I think that’s normal we talk about them. I do think we still talk about me. I’m not feeling too bad, but I’m going to try. The goal is, after this US Open, that we talk about me, so I’m going to try to do it.”
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And the 2021 US Open champion said it was also good for tennis to have Alcaraz’s rivalry with Djokovic. He added: “I think honestly it’s great. I think it’s great for tennis that we have these two guys playing against each other right now.
“As I say, it’s a great story, but then the tournament starts and hopefully we can – when I say ‘we’, me personally or someone else – we’re going to try to beat them and stop them from playing each other.”
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