Who Daniil Medvedev once said was the toughest opponent he had ever faced

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Daniil Medvedev has come up against some of the greatest players of all time throughout his playing days.

The Russian’s career briefly overlapped with Roger Federer‘s, with the two clashing three times on the ATP Tour.

Medvedev played Nadal six times and managed to pick up a victory over the Spaniard at the 2020 ATP Finals.

His rivalry with Novak Djokovic has been one of the best in recent years and has delivered three Grand Slam finals.

Despite competing against the three best players in the history of the sport, Medvedev once claimed there was one player who was tougher to beat than each of them.

Daniil Medvedev’s comments about Carlos Alcaraz in 2024

That player was the current world number one, Carlos Alcaraz, whom Medvedev has met eight times in his career.

The two last played each other at a Grand Slam in the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2024, when Alcaraz was aiming to go back-to-back at the All England Club.

Medvedev got off to a promising start in the match by drawing first blood via a tiebreak, but the defending champion prevailed in four sets.

In his post-match press conference following the bout, Medvedev had incredibly high praise for his conqueror.

He said: “Probably in my career he’s the toughest opponent I have faced.

“He’s tough to play, “I felt like I was serving good, definitely not worse than the other matches. Only five aces.

“He seemed to touch almost every ball on the court, like running well. I made some good points. I could have finished some maybe at the net, but didn’t manage to do it.

“In my opinion, he played much better than all the opponents I faced here before, and hence I lost. Not much more to add.”

Medvedev had faced Alcaraz in the semifinals the year before as well, which the eventual champion won comfortably, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

“The match against Carlos was much closer than last year,” said Medvedev. “Last year, I went out from the match, and I was like, ‘Wow, that was a semi-final, one hour, 30 [minutes] or something like this.’

“Very fast. He crushed me off the court. Today, I felt like that was not the case.”

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

Medvedev first played Alcaraz in the round of 64 at Wimbledon in 2021 and beat the then-teenager to advance.

Their next meeting did not come for another two years, though, which was ultimately the 2023 Indian Wells final.

Alcaraz won that final and beat him again at Wimbledon later that year, before Medvedev earned revenge at the 2023 US Open.

Medvedev’s triumph at Flushing Meadows was his last over Alcaraz, as the six-time major champion has won their last four tour-level bouts.

They last played each other at the China Open in 2024, where Alcaraz won in straight sets.