Match Reaction
Alcaraz on Medvedev defeat: ‘I have never seen Daniil playing like this’
World No. 1 Alcaraz displays on first lack of 2026
March 15, 2026
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Carlos Alcaraz waves to the Indian Wells crowd on Saturday after struggling his first lack of the season.
By ATP Staff
Carlos Alcaraz suffered his first lack of the season Saturday within the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. And as a lot as Spaniard hoped to increase his 16-0 begin to 2026, he additionally was fast to acknowledge the efficiency by his opponent, Daniil Medvedev.
“I just have to give credit to Daniil. I think he just played an amazing match,” Alcaraz mentioned. “Since the beginning of the match till the tip of the match, he was playing unreal, I’ve received to say. I have never seen, to be sincere, Daniil playing like this.
“He deserves completely the win today. He deserves completely to get through and play a final here. All I can say is just congratulations to him.”
This yr’s Australian Open and Doha champion, Alcaraz defined that he felt no exterior strain along with his profitable streak persevering with to develop.
“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,” Alcaraz mentioned. “That’s my mindset, so I’m not getting tired about the people thinking I have to win every match.”
The 22-year-old’s straight-sets defeat was much less reflective of his personal play, and extra consultant of the shape Medvedev, the previous No. 1 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings, has discovered. The 30-year-old has received 18 consecutive units courting again to the beginning of his run to the Dubai title.
“How aggressive he played all the time, I think that surprised me a little bit. I knew at the beginning that he was going to play aggressive, but how, the way he did it, surprised me a lot, because he didn’t miss any or he didn’t miss as much as I expected,” Alcaraz mentioned, cracking a smile. “He was playing aggressive, and he didn’t even miss. So it was tricky.”
On a sizzling day within the California desert, Medvedev appeared to tire Alcaraz along with his baseline play, forcing the Spaniard to place all his power into each level to attempt to discover a bonus. Alcaraz was in a position to seize the momentum with an early break within the second set and earned two set factors later on, however was unable to pressure a decider.
“In the second set, I just started to feel much better. I realised what I have to do. I realised that I have to suffer, and I accepted it,” Alcaraz mentioned. “I would say that that’s why the second set was better.”
The World No. 1 departs Indian Wells with a 16-1 report on the season, based on the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. So though he desired one other trophy on the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 occasion of the season, there may be a lot for Alcaraz to be ok with.
“I’m just a little bit disappointed right now. But at the same time, I have to see the good things about this loss,” Alcaraz mentioned. “It is concerning the folks and the gamers pondering that they should play like this degree in the event that they need to beat me. So sooner or later it is going to [go in] my favour in some methods.
“But obviously I have been playing great tennis. And I just showed the players and showed 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.”
