“If you play a lot of matches against Alcaraz and Sinner, you’ll probably lose more than you win. And that’s normal, because they are, in a good way, monsters. they know how to do things that others don’t. But the point is, if you can beat 2 out of 10, 3 out of 10, maybe you’ll try 1 out of 10, 4 out of 10.
“When they’re healthy, they’ve proven all year that they’re No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, in that order. But that’s part of the game to be healthy, and that hasn’t been the case this year.”
No sign of fatigue
Medvedev arrived in Almaty tired from the Shanghai Masters 1000 semi-final, but showed no signs of it. The top seed hit seven aces and hit 79 percent of her first serves. He broke early in the match, saved three break points en route to a 4-2 lead and took the first set on his first set point. In the second, one break was enough for 3-1.
“Honestly, I take confidence from this because it’s never easy coming from one tournament to another, especially from outdoor to indoor. It’s a little high here,” he said. “I’m happy that I showed a great level and that’s what I take to the next match.”
The defending champion, who has never defended a title in his career, has now won five in a row in Almaty. It’s his 99th quarterfinal appearance and 10th of the season. He is sixth in the race to Turin, 590 points ahead of Alex de Minaur, who is 10th, first out of the qualifying places. In the quarter finals, he will meet French Terence Atman.