China Open: Medvedev ready for Alcaraz with unique record looming

Daniil Medvedev is aware of the challenge ahead of him when he faces world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing on Tuesday evening.

The third seed is seeking to defeat Alcaraz for the first time in four meetings as he chases a record 21st consecutive unique ATP title.

To do so, he will need to deal with an “in the zone” Alcaraz first.

“I’m going to go for it,” said Medvedev, who raced past Italy Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-4 in the China Open quarter-finals for his third straight-sets win of the tournament.

“Tough test against Carlos.

“I think for me, and I think I’m not the only one to say it, when he’s in the zone, maybe he’s a bit less than Jannik in the zone, but when he’s in the zone, he’s probably the best player in the world.

“Tough to play him.

“I feel like now he’s in the zone. So it great test for me.

“I’m going to see how I go out there tomorrow, what tactic, what do I believe in.”

Medvedev has two wins over Alcaraz, with his most recent coming at the 2023 US Open, but trails 5-2 in the head-to-head standings.

Tennis bookmakers have Medvedev pegged as a +300 outsider to buck that trend, with Alcaraz paying short odds of -400.

Medvedev adds to support for Sinner

Should Medvedev pull off an upset against Alcaraz, he will likely face top seed Jannik Sinner in the final.

The Italian star is a -1428.57 favourite at Bovada to defeat world No.96 Yunchaokete Bu in his semi-final.

Medvedev offered his support for Sinner in his latest press conference in Beijing, after an appeal by the World Anti Doping Agency reopened the world No.1’s drug-use investigation this week.

“I’m sympathetic to Jannik,” he said.

“No-one wants to be in this situation.

“For me, imagine tomorrow you get an email, because I think it’s an email, you fail your doping test.

“They say for whatever reason, like cocaine or some drug you don’t even know the name of.

“You’re like, ‘Wow, what I do now because I have no idea how it happened that it’s in my pee, blood, whatever.’

“It’s a tricky situation.”

Despite the off-court drama, Sinner remains a -111.11 favourite with top betting sites to defend his China Open title.

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