Daniil Medvedev names the Grand Slam winner he wants to avoid in the fourth round of the French Open

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Daniil Medvedev has enjoyed a solid clay-court campaign in 2025, reaching the fourth round of all three Masters 1000 events.

The Russian number one began his clay season in Monte-Carlo, where Medvedev beat Karen Khachanov and Alexandre Muller before coming up short against Alex de Minaur.

Heading to the Madrid Open, Medvedev continued to impress, reaching the quarterfinals with wins over Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Brandon Nakashima.

There, Medvedev lost to Casper Ruud, 3-6, 5-7, failing in his bid to reach a maiden semi-final in the Spanish capital.

Finishing off his clay Masters 1000 campaign, Medvedev was beaten by Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round of the Italian Open, having defeated Cameron Norrie and Alexei Popyrin in his second and third round matches.

The world number 11 will now turn his attention to Paris and the French Open, as he reveals the identity of the Grand Slam champion he would like to avoid in the last 16.

Daniil Medvedev hopes to avoid Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of the French Open

During an interview with the Russian media outlet Bolshe, Medvedev was asked whether he is concerned by his recent ranking decline.

“No, but it does affect the draw sometimes,” he said.

“If I play [Carlos] Alcaraz in the fourth round, it’s kind of worse than playing with someone very strong, but different from Alcaraz.

“Therefore it is reflected in this. But I also know that if I get my level back, my confidence back, my victories back, then the ranking can come back very quickly.

“Everyone seems to know this so, let’s see what will happen in the Roland Garros draw.”

The top eight seeds at the French Open will avoid each other until the quarterfinals, but as Medvedev heads to Paris as the 11th seed, he could play Alcaraz in his fourth-round match.

Medvedev also took the time to reflect on his clay season so far, where he has won six matches and lost three.

“To be honest, not bad,” he said.

“In the sense that the game is there, and there were good victories.

“All the matches that I won were against good clay court players, and I lost to people who were very strong at the moment and in good shape.

“But naturally, the big downside is that if you want to get back there, even if we’re talking about the top five, not to mention something even better, then you need to beat them, and get further in tournaments.

“But all this can come at any moment, so we need to continue working. I heard some statistics that if you take the last two to three years, I almost play better on clay than on hard, so not bad.”

Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz’s head-to-head record

Medvedev may not fancy the idea of a fourth-round clash with Alcaraz in Paris, but how has he fared against the Spaniard throughout his career?

The pair have faced off eight times in total, with Alcaraz leading the head-to-head 6-2.

Alcaraz beat Medvedev in their previous Grand Slam outing, at the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year.

The 22-year-old has had the better of things during the early stages of their rivalry, although they are yet to play each other on clay.

Medvedev hasn’t always been the biggest fan of clay, but has improved at Roland Garros over the past four years, reaching the fourth round on three occasions.

Daniil Medvedev’s French Open record

• 2024 French Open – Lost in 4R to Alex de Minaur
• 2023 French Open – Lost in 1R to Thiago Seyboth Wild
• 2022 French Open – Lost in 4R to Marin Cilic
• 2021 French Open – Lost in QF to Stefanos Tsitsipas
• 2020 French Open – Lost in 1R to Marton Fucsovics
• 2019 French Open – Lost in 1R to Pierre-Hugues Herbert
• 2018 French Open – Lost in 1R to Lucas Pouille
• 2017 French Open – Lost in 1R to Benjamin Bonzi

The former world number one will no doubt hope to avoid Alcaraz in the fourth round and match his best French Open performance by reaching the quarterfinals.

This year’s French Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 25.