In terms of “peak performance,” Daniil Medvedev has acknowledged that Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic are all superior than him.
However, the world No. 4 stated that he is relishing and welcoming the “big challenge” of attempting to defeat his three primary opponents.
Currently ranked as one of the top favorites and the reigning champion, Medvedev is competing in the 2024 Italian Open.
Having won 20 ATP titles in 20 separate competitions, the 2021 US Open champion is attempting to win the same tournament twice in his career. Since winning the Italian Open in 2023, he has not been victorious.
Today in Rome, the 28-year-old Russian will play Tommy Paul, the 14th seed, in the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 competition. Against the 26-year-old American, Medvedev is 3-0.
In the ATP Rankings, Djokovic, Sinner, and Alcaraz are ranked first, second, and third, respectively. Due to injuries, Sinner and Alcaraz withdrew from the Italian Open, while Djokovic was unexpectedly eliminated in the third round by Alejandro Tabilo.
Though he leads 6-5 over Sinner, Medvedev has a losing record versus Djokovic (5-10) and Alcaraz (2-4). However, Medvedev has dropped his last five meetings with the Italian.
When talking about his rivals, the former world number one disclosed that he does not consider himself to be in the same league as the current top three.
“I believe that in any sport, you will encounter situations where you are up against someone really strong, and just when you think they might get weaker—or at least feel like they might—new guys will come along and attempt to beat you, and occasionally they succeed in doing so,” he said to the Roland Garros website.
Rafa [Nadal] is still there, so it’s a great challenge for me to try to defeat him. I was going to say only Novak, but no, let’s see how far he can go.
“I feel that when it comes to peak performance, Jannik, Carlos, and Novak are all better than me, so it’s a tremendous task for me to attempt to defeat them when I play them. I’m excited to take on this task and, if I succeed in beating them, I want to develop greatly.
That’s what I think, for instance, because the Australian Open (2024) final match versus Sinner was the pinnacle of my performance. Yes, I was physically exhausted, but this is a big if. The truth is, even though I was at my best, I still lost.
It’s not a comfortable sensation. They are excellent players. They seem to have better photos than I do. However, each time I play them, I try to figure out how to win this time around and improve from the previous match if I lost. And how can I improve if I emerged victorious in the last one?
“Because they intend to develop something novel. To be honest, I enjoy this sensation. In a way, there are moments when you would rather play in a final where you have a better chance of winning—perhaps against someone else.
But being able to overcome this, as I previously did with Novak in the US Open [in 2021], is a tremendous feeling, and it’s a positive emotion.