‘Not mature enough’ Carlos Alcaraz breaks silence after losing to Daniil Medvedev at US Open despite being the best player

Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Daniil Medvedev in 4 sets in the 2023 US Open semi-final.

‘Not mature enough’ Carlos Alcaraz breaks silence after losing to Daniil Medvedev at US Open despite being the best player

Carlos Alcaraz (Credits : USTA)

In what might be called a mini upset, the 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev put on a near-flawless performance to get the better of the defending champion and the 1st seed Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final of the US Open 2023. The 3rd seed defeated the world no.1 7-6(3),6-1,3-6,6-3 to reach his 3rd US Open final in 5 years and 5th Slam final. This was Alcaraz’s second defeat in the Grand Slams this year, the first one came at the French Open earlier this year.

Medvedev struggled with his serve in his first 3 service games in the 1st set. But, from then on the Russian hardly gave the 1st seed a chance on his serve. Medvedev was impeccable on the forehand side and consistently targeted his opponent’s forehand. While Alcaraz had some early success with the drop shot early on, he struggled to find success with it later in the match. The Spaniard was completely outplayed in the 2nd set and almost smashed his racket out of frustration during a changeover in the set.

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Talking to the press in the post-match press conference, Alcaraz said that he wasn’t mature enough to handle the difficult situations in the match, despite thinking that he was a better player to do so compared to earlier in his career. “These kind of matches can happen. Even if I feel I’m a more mature, different player. He played really really great. A great game. I couldn’t find solutions. I thought right now I’m a better player to find solutions when the match isn’t going the right direction.. after this match, I’m gonna change my mind. I’m not mature enough to handle these kind of matches,” the 1st seed explained.

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Although Medvedev found success with his serve, hitting 9 aces and winning 82% points on his first serve, he struggled to close out the match on serve. The Russian player double-faulted on 40-40 at 5-3 in the 4th set as he was heckled by the crowd between serves.

Speaking about the incident in the on-court interview, Medvedev said, “The crowd was unbelievable. I mean it. I felt love to both sides. 1,000 Spanish guys at 5-3 started screaming between 1st & 2nd serves. That’s not so nice. But I guess they were desperate. They can go to sleep now.”

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Daniil Medvedev says he kept looking at the screen to see which celebrities were in attendance during match against Carlos Alcaraz

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Charlize Theron at the US Open (credits :USTA)

As is expected in any high-profile game taking place in New York, the blockbuster semi-final clash between Medvedev and Alcaraz had many sports and Hollywood celebrities in attendance. The celebrities in attendance included NBA stars Jimmy Butler and Kevin Durant, NFL legend Tom Brady and Hollywood actress Charlize Theron.

“There are a lot of celebrities. They were showing it all the time. I was trying to stay focused but I was like ‘Who’s there? Ok, who’s the next one?’”Daniil Medvedev said in the post-match press conference.

https://twitter.com/TheTennisLetter/status/1700341429661585544?s=20

In a rematch of the final of US Open 2021, Medvedev will face the newly crowned no.1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the US Open 2023. Speaking about the match, Medvedev said, “The challenge is that you play a guy who won 23 Slams. I have only 1. When I beat him here, I managed to play better than myself. I need to do it again. There’s no other way.”

Medvedev would definitely not make it easy for the Serbian to win a record-extending 24th Grand Slam. The pair have faced off 14 times with Djokovic leading the head-to-head 9-5. Their most recent encounter came at the Dubai Masters earlier this year. The Russian won the semi final encounter in straight sets.

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