Carlos Alcaraz said he was finding it tough to constantly have a target on his back and was surprised by the level of performance from Daniil Medvedev after the Russian handed him his first defeat of the season at Indian Wells.
Medvedev’s 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over the world No 1 in the semi-finals ended the Spaniard’s 16-match winning run to start the season. World No 11 Medvedev will play Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday.
“What I’m just getting tired a little bit is to get that target on my back all the time,” said Alcaraz, whose winning streak had included the Australian Open title, where he became the youngest player to complete the career grand slam.
“I have never seen Daniil playing like this. I knew at the beginning that he was going to play aggressive, but how, the way he did it, surprised me a lot. He didn’t even miss. I realised that I had to do something different … and he was finding every solution and every answer to my shots,” he said.
The seven-times grand slam champion refused to be downbeat about the loss and said his opponents were having to deliver their best if they were to stand a chance of beating him.
“I have been playing great tennis, and I just show the players and show the people that if they want to beat me, they have to play at their best level one hour and a half, two hours in every match,” the 22-year-old Spaniard added.
“I have to see the good things about this loss. It is about the people and the players thinking that they need to play like this level if they want to beat me.”
Alcaraz will now look to kick off a new winning streak but he said his focus was more about accomplishing his goals.
“I’m not thinking about I need to win or I have to win. It’s just about chasing my goals, chasing what I just set up before every tournament,” he said. “That’s my mindset.”
