NEW YORK: Daniil Medvedev isn't overly worried that he's not a part of the 'favourites' conversation leading into the US Open. He prefers to leave that for later.
"It is great for tennis that we have these two guys (Alcaraz and Djokovic) playing against each other right now," the third seed said. "It's a great story, a great rivalry so far."
"But when the tournament starts, hopefully we - when I say 'we' I mean me or someone else - are going to try to beat them and stop them from playing each other (in the final)."
For himself, Medvedev, the 2021 champion at Flushing Meadows, reacts with a verbal shrug. A smile underlining his plan. "I'm not feeling too bad. The goal is after this US Open, that we talk about me. I'm going to try to do that," he said.
The 27-year-old, placed in the top half of the draw headlined by the world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, opens against Hungary's Attila Balazs on Tuesday. He could meet Aussie 13th seed Alex de Minaur, who he lost to in a close match in Toronto two weeks ago, in the fourth-round. Long-time friend Andrey Rublev is a potential quarterfinal opponent.
Medvedev, 6 ft 6' of skin and bones, has won 18 of his 20 singles titles on hardcourts, instituting himself as something of a standard on the surface.
Supplementally since he stopped Djokovic's calendar Slam bid in the title round at the Arthur Ashe stadium two years ago. The Russian, however, came up short in both the Masters 1000 events leading into the US Open, falling in the quarterfinals in Toronto and the round-of-sixteen in Cincinnati, which is why he's not part of the 'title favourites' debate this year. As well as Alcaraz and Djokovic have played, owning the top bracket of the sport, Medvedev has appeared under par this summer.
The world No.3 has been looking at his serve these last couple of weeks. A combination of double-faults and a shaky percentage of first serves may have cost him dearly in the fall swing.
"The serve is a tough shot because it's such fine margins sometimes. It's probably the most important shot in tennis, the serve can save you many times," he argued. "You may not play the best match, but your serve can save you. You go to the tie-break and you start playing better. It has happened to me many times."
