Daniil Medvedev has revealed why Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have dominated tennis over the past 18 months, and responded to claims that he is part of a \u2018lost generation\u2019.<\/p>\n
The pair have transformed the landscape of men\u2019s tennis since the start of the 2024 season, winning all nine of the most recent Grand Slams.<\/p>\n
Last season, they contested the showpiece match at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open \u2013 a feat not achieved by Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic within their respective rivalries.<\/p>\n
World No 2 Alcaraz holds a remarkable 7,705-point lead over world No 3 Alexander Zverev in the ATP Rankings, while the Italian leads the Spaniard by 390 points.<\/p>\n
Most recently, the duo faced off in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters \u2013 their first clash of 2026 \u2013 with Sinner victorious, 7-6(5), 6-3.<\/p>\n
It marked Sinner\u2019s fourth consecutive Masters 1000 title, having previously triumphed in Paris, Indian Wells, and Miami.<\/p>\n
Medvedev<\/a>, currently ranked world No 10, was recently asked by ABC<\/a> what separates Alcaraz and Sinner from the rest of the field.<\/p>\n Latest Tennis News<\/p>\n Tennis experts reveal why Novak Djokovic, not Jannik Sinner, benefits most from Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s French Open withdrawal<\/a> \u201cTheir [Alcaraz and Sinner] strength lies in the fact that they almost always play at their best, even if they don\u2019t always show it,\u201d the Russian analysed during his interview.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that means that when they do drop their level, it\u2019s only slightly lower,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s why they beat everyone. In my case, on the other hand, my level fluctuates more. So I hope to find my best form again and try to beat them.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re very far ahead of everyone right now.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps in terms of consistency, Zverev might be a little closer. And that\u2019s why he\u2019s ranked third in the world. But even so, it\u2019s difficult for him to beat them.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they\u2019re still there at the top. So, for now, the difference is enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n While both Sinner and Alcaraz have enjoyed significant success, they are also constantly refining their games.<\/p>\n After a poor performance in the US Open final \u2013 where he made just 48% of first serves \u2013 the Italian went straight to the practice courts to find a solution.<\/p>\n Sinner, in collaboration with coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, developed a more left-leaning ball toss and a slower, more rhythmic service motion.<\/p>\n The change was highly-effective as, prior to the clay-court season, he had held 422 out of 450 service games and won 11 of the 12 tiebreaks he contested.<\/p>\n Similarly, Alcaraz arrived at the Australian Open with a modified service motion \u2013 one that drew comparisons to Djokovic\u2019s.<\/p>\n Medvedev believes that this ability to adapt and evolve makes the pair more unpredictable to face.<\/p>\n \u201cSinner has improved his serve a lot now,\u201d analysed the Russian.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to counter. With Carlos, it\u2019s more the power of his shots, the power of his forehand. And suddenly, bam, he hits a drop shot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just that, because with power, you never know what to expect. Drop shots are fantastic, and even if you anticipate them, you\u2019re not sure you\u2019ll win the point; they\u2019re incredibly fast.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically, they have every shot in their repertoire. And most of them can be better than yours. So it\u2019s not easy to defend against.\u201d<\/p>\n Medvedev, born in 1996, is considered part of the so-called \u2018lost generation\u2019, a group of players who were unable to establish sustained dominance on tour.<\/p>\n More specifically, players born in the 1980s collected a total of 80 singles Grand Slam titles, while those born in the following decade have claimed just two (Medvedev and Dominic Thiem).<\/p>\n Sinner and Alcaraz, both born in the 2000s, have already won a combined 11 Grand Slams and have firmly left their mark on tennis history.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just the way it is,\u201d added the former world No. 1.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our generation we didn\u2019t have a player of the calibre of the Big 3, or the one that Carlos and Jannik have now. They play better, they\u2019re stronger, more consistent, faster. So it\u2019s not a problem to be worse than them.<\/p>\n \u201cJust as it wasn\u2019t a problem to be worse than Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. At that time, Wawrinka won three Grand Slams; Cilic one, and Murray won three. And then Thiem came along and I won one too. Anyone else? No, no one else.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the way it is. We don\u2019t have a player who\u2019s going to win 15 Grand Slams and play the best tennis of his life day in and day out.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we have some amazing players who can still win a Grand Slam, at least win a lot of big tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniil Medvedev has revealed why Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have dominated tennis over the past 18 months,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-550753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2018There\u2019s one who might not be disappointed by Alcaraz\u2019s French Open absence, and that\u2019s Djokovic\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n