Alcaraz: "Honestly, I had never seen Daniil play like this"

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Carlos Alcaraz lost his first match of the 2026 season against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, but his opponent's performance was so good that it won't take him long to recover from the blow.

In fact, it's possible that the Spaniard has already turned the page and is thinking about the next tournament, which is the good thing about losing a match when your rival truly deserves the victory. This was the message we got from Carlos Alcaraz's post-match press conference at Indian Wells, giving full credit to Daniil Medvedev, praising his strengths and even pointing out why he couldn't push for a third set despite never giving up. These were the world number one's remarks after being defeated for the first time this season.

Congratulations to Medvedev

"First of all, I only have words of credit for Daniil, I think he played an incredible match. From the beginning to the end of the match, his game was unreal. Honestly, I had never seen Daniil play like that before. He completely deserves this victory, to go through and play the final tomorrow. All I can do is congratulate him. For my part, it was challenging in some games, the feeling was of constantly chasing, it was very tough. Nevertheless, I am proud that I fought until the last ball."

An extremely tough match

"It was very demanding, we had some long exchanges in the first set, that's what you get when you play against Daniil, so he forces you to increase power in every shot. It's like wasting extra energy after each hit, something that becomes more complex with the heat. In the first set, it was difficult for me, he made me struggle a lot, but then in the second set, I started to feel better. That's when I realized what I had to do, that I needed to endure and accept it. That's why I performed better in the second set."

Saying goodbye to the unbeaten streak in 2026

"I'm not thinking about that at all. I said it when I played against Rinderknech, what tires me out is having that burden on my back all the time, being the target. I had never seen Daniil play like that before, but I have to accept it and move on. What I had to do is understand what needed to change to win the match, now it's about preparing better for the next match with my team. I'm not thinking about whether I need to win or lose, it's just about pursuing my goals, achieving the target set before each tournament. That's my mentality, so I'm not tired of people expecting me to win every match."

Carlos Alcaraz analyzes his defeat against Daniil Medvedev

"He played very aggressively all the time, that surprised me a bit. I knew he would be aggressive from the start, but the way he did it surprised me a lot. He was playing very aggressively and not missing a shot, it was very tough for me. The conditions today were different, the ball was bouncing super high, it seemed like my serve was always perfect for him to return. Today he always found the window, the space, or whatever was needed to find that perfect shot."

What would have changed in a third set?

"I realized I had to do something different because in the first set, he found all the answers to my proposals. The shade took a long time to reach the court, it seemed like it wasn't as hot, so I tried to play with more height and more bounce, waiting for my chances. I tried to be more aggressive in my returns and, from there, be aggressive in the first shots until finding a clear opportunity and going for it. For example, starting to come to the net more often brought me success, although not all the time. I had my chances to close the second set, and I didn't take advantage, that also made a significant difference."

No excuses regarding the weather

"It's okay, we have to adapt to all conditions. It doesn't matter, I knew that the conditions today would be completely different from the previous days when I played in the evening session, that's why this tournament is one of the most challenging because it changes a lot from playing during the day to playing at night. We've been training at this time for many days, so we knew the conditions perfectly, I even knew it before the match, so it wasn't a factor to complain about now."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Alcaraz: “Honestamente, nunca había visto a Daniil jugar así”