Alcaraz has third rival looking to become his nemesis after Djokovic and Sinner

Daniil Medvedev could be the latest player to form a rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz after Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner. The world No 3 stunned the Spaniard in the semi-final of the US Open, where Alcaraz was the top seed and defending champion. And Medvedev is already keen for another showdown, sharing his wish to face Alcaraz in the China Open final.

Since his meteoric rise last year, Alcaraz has already established some exciting rivalries on the tennis tour. The Spaniard has contested multiple epic battles with Djokovic while the pair have won the four Majors between them this season and been in a constant fight for the world No 1 ranking.

The 20-year-old has also got some healthy competition with a player closer to his age in Sinner. The pair are all square at 3-3 in their head-to-head and have played some thrillers, including a five-hour and 15-minute epic at the 2022 US Open. And Alcaraz has previously been vocal about enjoying his rivalry with the Italian.

Medvedev is now emerging as another tough rival for Alcaraz with the pair on a collision course to meet in the China Open final as the top two seeds. “I think if we end up facing each other this week, we will both be happy, since we would both be in the final,” the 27-year-old said ahead of the tournament.

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Both men had already faced off three times before Medvedev beat the world No 2 in the US Open final. But their first meeting came at Wimbledon in 2021 when Alcaraz was ranked No 75 in the world and aged just 18 – before he became the champion he is now.

The Spaniard then got two one-sided wins over the world No 3 this season, breezing past him in the Indian Wells final and the Wimbledon semi-final without dropping a set. But Medvedev levelled their head-to-head when he sent Alcaraz packing 7-6(3) 6-1 3-6 6-3 at the US Open.

It keeps things interesting ahead of this week’s Beijing ATP 500, as Alcaraz will be out for revenge in the final while Medvedev will want to back up his impressive showing in Flushing Meadows. But it will be a big ask for both players to make it to the final as the draw is brutal at the China Open, with world No 40 Andy Murray being the lowest-ranked man who doesn’t have a wildcard, protected ranking or special exemption.

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And Medvedev is well aware that the quality of the field is exceptional, making it difficult to get to a final against Alcaraz. “It’s a good goal, trying to make this happen. At the same time, as I said, there are a lot of great players in the draw,” he added.

“It is very hard, it is as if it were the draw of a Masters 1000 or a Grand Slam. In a way, it’s even stronger than a Grand Slam, where you don’t have such complicated first rounds. It’s going to be very interesting, I think it’s very rare to see such a strong ATP 500, it will be interesting to see who does it better. I think we are going to see different results among the seeded players, many of them could lose in the first round, there is no easy match here.”

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