Daniil Medvedev is flying under the radar, but the second seed has quietly moved into the third round at Wimbledon.
The Russian star was ruthless on No. 1 Court on Thursday, dismissing #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in just one hour and 34 minutes.
"The faster you go at a Grand Slam the better, but Carlos is an amazing player," Medvedev said in his on-court interview.. "I was actually even surprised in a way with the first set. Grass is definitely not his best surface, but he was giving it all there. Of course [in the] second and third sets, maybe the gap was too high. But I'm sure he's going to be sooner or later in the Top 10 and maybe even higher."
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The 25-year-old is carrying confidence after lifting an ATP 250 title on grass at the Mallorca Championships the week before The Championships. Medvedev will always be fond of this major, as his first Grand Slam main draw victory came on Centre Court against Stan Wawrinka in 2017.
"I love grass," Medvedev said. "Wimbledon is always going to be special for me."
The second seed is into the third round at The All England Club for his third consecutive appearance, and he will try to reach the fourth round at SW19 for the first time when he plays former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, the 32nd seed and 2017 finalist, or French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi.
"In Russia we say the third one is the lucky one, so hopefully that will work," Medvedev said, cracking a laugh. "But if not, I know that I might be playing Marin... that could be a great matchup for the third round, so not an easy game. But I just need to show my best tennis and like this I'm going to have chances to win the game."
Medvedev played a clean match against Alcaraz in which he made just 12 unforced errors and won 95 per cent of his first-serve points. Although the teenage Spaniard tried to go for his shots from the baseline, he was unable to take the Russian out of his comfort zone.
The Russian star was ruthless on No. 1 Court on Thursday, dismissing #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in just one hour and 34 minutes.
"The faster you go at a Grand Slam the better, but Carlos is an amazing player," Medvedev said in his on-court interview.. "I was actually even surprised in a way with the first set. Grass is definitely not his best surface, but he was giving it all there. Of course [in the] second and third sets, maybe the gap was too high. But I'm sure he's going to be sooner or later in the Top 10 and maybe even higher."
Listen To Radio Wimbledon | List Of Broadcasters (PDF)
The 25-year-old is carrying confidence after lifting an ATP 250 title on grass at the Mallorca Championships the week before The Championships. Medvedev will always be fond of this major, as his first Grand Slam main draw victory came on Centre Court against Stan Wawrinka in 2017.
"I love grass," Medvedev said. "Wimbledon is always going to be special for me."
The second seed is into the third round at The All England Club for his third consecutive appearance, and he will try to reach the fourth round at SW19 for the first time when he plays former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, the 32nd seed and 2017 finalist, or French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi.
"In Russia we say the third one is the lucky one, so hopefully that will work," Medvedev said, cracking a laugh. "But if not, I know that I might be playing Marin... that could be a great matchup for the third round, so not an easy game. But I just need to show my best tennis and like this I'm going to have chances to win the game."
Medvedev played a clean match against Alcaraz in which he made just 12 unforced errors and won 95 per cent of his first-serve points. Although the teenage Spaniard tried to go for his shots from the baseline, he was unable to take the Russian out of his comfort zone.