By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 26, 2026
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Daniil Medvedev is inspired by his 2026 resurgence, but is under no illusions when it comes to world supremacy.
The 30-year-old Medvedev says supplanting Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is likely a mission impossible—if the two superstars are healthy in 2027. Sinner pulled the plug on his 2026 season to recover from a right knee injury.
A revitalized Daniil Medvedev defended a title for the first time collecting his 25th career crown in Almaty yesterday.
Speaking to Italian publication Corriere Dello Sport’s Marco Iaria, Medvedev said Sinner and Alcaraz are a world apart. Reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion Alexander Zverev has clinched the year-end world No. 1 ranking, but Medvedev cites Alcaraz and Sinner as next level champions.
“Overtaking them in the ranking? Probably not. Over the course of an entire season they are much stronger than everyone else, if they are not injured, of course,” Medvedev told Corriere Dello Sport’s Marco Iaria. “Even if injuries are part of the game. If you play a lot of matches against Alcaraz and Sinner, you will probably lose more than you win.
“And it’s normal, because they are, in a positive sense, phenomena out of the ordinary. They know how to do things that others can’t.”
Wimbledon winner Sinner, who beat Medvedev in the Indian Wells final in March, said tennis booms when the man nicknamed Meddy Bear brings his best.
“I do believe that tennis needs him,” Sinner said of Medvedev in Indian Wells. “He’s a very unique style of playing. Seeing him back at this level, it’s great. He’s improving a lot.
“Very aggressive player at the end. He has two different game styles when he serves and when he returns. So, you know, you have to face that. It’s great for the sport, having him playing at this level again.”
World No. 5 Medvedev doesn’t own the all-surface acumen of Alcaraz, who made history as the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam in January, or Sinner. In fact, Medvedev has won 23 of his 25 career titles on hard courts.
Still, Medvedev says the key to cracking the Sincaraz stronghold comes down to pressing them at every opportunity—and realizing either champion is vulnerable to injury.
“The goal is this: if you manage to win two games out of ten, then you try to win three,” Medvedev told Corriere Dello Sport’s Marco Iaria. “Maybe four, or even five out of ten. You try. Every time you take the field, you try.
“But I repeat: when they are physically well, they have shown throughout the season that they are number one and two in the world, in whatever order you want to put them. That said, staying healthy is also part of the game. And this year, for them, it was not like that.”
The 2021 US Open champion Medvedev says add up each element of the Sincaraz games, combine their results when healthy and you come to the conclusion that toppling the two superstars may well be too tough.
“So, hey, when someone hits stronger than you, puts everything in the court, runs definitely not slower than you, serves not worse than you, it’s tough to beat him,” Medvedev said. “But you can always try. But in terms of consistency that they both showed last year, it’s probably almost impossible for anyone to get to this No. 2 spot.
“But then, you know, the slams is the most important, and they were in all the finals — no. Three out of four finals last year. But you can always beat them in one match.”
0 comments