Carlos Alcaraz on Daniil Medvedev’s defeat: ‘I have never seen Daniil play like this’ | ATP Tour

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Alcaraz on Medvedev’s defeat: ‘I have never seen Daniil play like this’

World No. 1 Alcaraz shows the first loss of 2026

March 15, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz suffered his first loss of the season on Saturday in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open. And just as the Spaniard hoped to extend his 16-0 start to 2026, he was quick to acknowledge the performance of his opponent, Daniil Medvedev.

“I have to give credit to Daniil. I think he just played an amazing game,” Alcaraz said. “Since the start of the game until the end of the game, he has been playing unreal, I have never seen Daniil play like this to be honest.

“He totally deserves to win today. He totally deserves to go to the finals here. All I can say is congratulations to him.”

This year’s Australian Open and Doha champion, Alcaraz explained that he has no external pressure for his winnings to continue growing.

“I don’t think ‘I need to win’ or ‘I have to win’. It’s about chasing my goals, and chasing what I just set before every competition,” said Alcaraz. “That’s my mindset, so I don’t care about people who think I should win every game.”

The 22-year-old’s straight-sets loss is hardly reflected in his performance, and the form representative of Medvedev, the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, has found. The 30-year-old has won 18 sets in a row since starting his run with the Dubai title.

“How aggressive he was playing, I think that surprised me a little bit. I knew at first that he was going to play aggressively, but how, the way he did it, I was very surprised, because he didn’t miss anything or he didn’t miss like I expected,” said Alcaraz, with a small laugh. “He was playing aggressively, he didn’t even miss a miss.

On a hot day in the California desert, Medvedev appeared to tire Alcaraz in his first game, forcing the Spaniard to put all his energy into every point to try and gain an advantage. Alcaraz managed to hold the momentum with a break in the second set and earned two set points later, but was unable to force a decider.

“In the second set, I started to feel a lot better. I realized what I had to do. I saw that I had to suffer, and I accepted it,” said Alcaraz. “I would say that’s why the second set was better.”

World No. 1 leaves Indian Wells with a 16-1 record on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. So even though he was hoping for another trophy at the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, there’s plenty for Alcaraz to feel good about.

“I’m a little disappointed right now. But at the same time, I have to see the positives in this loss,” Alcaraz said. “It’s about people and players who think they have to play at this level if they want to beat me. [go in] my grace in other ways.

“But obviously I was playing very good tennis. [their] The best level is an hour and a half, two hours in every game.”