Daniil Medvedev makes feelings clear if it’s easy to win in absence of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Novak Djokovic
The Madrid Open is the last tournament Jannik Sinner will miss as he will be making his much-awaited comeback at the Italian Open next month.
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Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Wimbledon, #AusOpen, Carlos Alcaraz, Danny)
Daniil Medvedev is at the Madrid Open, bidding to win the first title since lifting the 2023 Italian Open. He is one of the top 10 players left in the tournament, as some of them either got knocked out or are not playing.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz are not in Madrid. Sinner is serving the three-month doping ban he was handed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Alcaraz, on the other hand, withdrew from the tournament.
The four-time Grand Slam champion, after lifting the Monte Carlo Masters, suffered a hamstring injury during the Barcelona Open final and is hoping to make his comeback at the Italian Open. Novak Djokovic, who arrived in Madrid for the first time in three years, suffered three consecutive defeats for the second time this year after he succumbed to a straight-set defeat to Matteo Arnaldi in his opening round.
Prior to the Madrid Open, the 24-time Grand Slam champion lost to Alejandro Tabilo in the Monte Carlo Masters second round and to Jakub Mensik in the Miami Open final. Medvedev, who reached the fourth round after breezing past Juan Manuel Cerundolo, implied that Alacarz, Sinner, and Djokovic’s absence don’t make much difference as players focus more on their own matches.
I do think that everyone takes it match by match of course. It’s kind of in a way easier when you know that Carlos who is playing tremendous on clay is not there. So if you think, okay, my percentage…chances to win the tournament are higher without Carlor or Jannik or Novak in the draw, but it’s always match by match.
Daniil Medvedev told Tennis Channel
Medvedev will next lock horns with Brandon Nakashima against whom, he is 1-0 in the head-to-head record. The Russian had met the American at the 2023 Indian Wells.
Sinner, on the other hand, will make his comeback at the Italian Open, which starts on May 7. It will be his second tournament of the season, the first being the Australian Open he lifted for the second time in a row, by breezing past Alexander Zverev.
Andy Roddick backs Jannik Sinner to win the French Open
Jannik Sinner came close to lifting his career’s first French Open title last year. He reached the semifinal but eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz knocked him out in five sets.
Although Sinner will make his comeback at the Italian, by the time the French Open starts, the three-time Grand Slam champion will have enough match practice as after the Italian Open, Sinner has also signed up for the Hamburg European Open. Andy Roddick, who thinks Sinner could deal with “jitters“ when he makes his comeback in Rome, backed him to take home the French Open.
I don’t think it’s going to be his best surface when he has two feet firmly planted on cement that is where he is going to be dominant. But, he could have won the French Open last year, he was like weirdly close to winning the French Open last year, so I think he is absolutely capable.
Andy Roddick said on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast
The French Open, along with the Wimbledon are the only Grand Slam titles he has not yet lifted. The 23-year-old produced his best at SW19 when he advanced to the last four in 2023.
Sinner, the winner of 19 singles titles, has won just one trophy on the red dirt: the 2022 Umag Open. Last year on the clay swing, Sinner reached the semifinal of the Monte Carlo Masters and the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open (withdrew later), before his semifinal run at the Roland Garros.
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