"People beat Djokovic, even beat Nadal on clay, which is impossible" - Daniil Medvedev on whether he can beat Carlos Alcaraz in potential US Open SF

Daniil Medvedev reached the semifinals of the 2023 US Open on Wednesday, beating Andrey Rublev in straight sets. Up next for the Russian is either Alexander Zverev or defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

While Medvedev leads 9-7 in the head-to-head against Zverev, he trails 1-2 against Alcaraz. He has lost both of their last two matches, which happened just this year—the finals at Indian Wells and the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Speaking at his press conference after the 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over Rublev in the quarterfinals in New York, the World No. 3 discussed what made Alcaraz such a difficult opponent. Medvedev believes the World No. 1 has every shot in the book, and at times produces plays that others could never make.

"Yeah, I would say what makes him that difficult is just that he has every shot. He has extra power to other players. So it's true many players probably I would go with 97%, it's tough for them to hit the ball through me, like I'm always there, always running, always trying to get it back," Daniil Medvedev said.

"He can do it just because he has this power, we see it 100 mile forehand winner and stuff like this. Some players, even if we try, we cannot do it," he added.

At the same time, Daniil Medvedev does not feel beating the Spaniard is out of the realm of possibility for him, should they meet at Flushing Meadows on Friday. The former US Open champion pointed out how every player is beatable in tennis, invoking Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to prove his point.

Given how players have beaten both Djokovic and Nadal in the past, even though it might have looked nearly impossible on paper, Medvedev hopes to put everything on the line against Alcaraz if their meeting materializes.

"So that's one thing he's good from forehand, backhand, he can slice, dropshot. So he has every shot in the game. But again, tennis, you can always beat players. People beat Novak. People even beat Rafa on clay, which is almost impossible but some players do. It's the same about Carlos," Daniil Medvedev said.

"I need to be there 100% of the time and be better" - Daniil Medvedev on the strategy to beat Carlos Alcaraz

US Open Tennis

As for specific strategies against Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev admitted that he needs to serve better than he did in their previous matches. The Russian also said he needs to be there "100% of the time" and be consistently better in order to prevail against the World No. 1.

"Every time I will be playing against him I want to try to win, so I said it one time already, I need to serve better than I did the previous matches. I need to serve on the line if I need to. I need to put my shots on the line and stuff like this. I need to be there 100% of the time and be better," Daniil Medvedev said.

A victory in the semifinals would pit Medvedev against either Novak Djokovic or Ben Shelton in the final of the US Open.