?He?s an Octopus?- Andrey Rublev?s Blunt Yet Bizarre Assessment of Compatriot Daniil Medvedev Comes to Carlos Alcaraz?s Mind as the Spaniard Prepares for His Wimbledon Semifinal Showdown

As the Wimbledon Championships are getting to a close, fans are in for a treat as two block-buster semi-finals are in store. Novak Djokovic faces off against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz clashes with Daniil Medvedev. Both these matches promise to offer top-class entertainment and would prove to be high-quality encounters. All three top-seeded players will be in action in the semi-finals except Jannik Sinner, ranked 8 in the world. Both matches are scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Alcaraz and Medvedev have already faced once in Wimbledon with Medvedev coming off through that in comfortable fashion in straight sets. But what one has to remember is that at that time Alcaraz was only a teenager and was still a novice at grass. But now he is a major champion with 11 ATP titles to his name.

Some real hard work needed to get past ‘Octopus Medvedev’

Both the players have one thing in common and that is, grass is not the favorite surface for both of them. Alcaraz prefers clay courts while Medvedev prefers hard courts. But both of them have significantly improved on grass and that’s the reason why they are in the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

Medvedev’s court coverage is out of this world and he has earned the nickname, “The Octopus” from fellow ATP players like Andrey Rublev. His unique playing style and court coverage make one feel that though he plays only with two hands it looks like he plays with eight hands because of he gets to impossible balls.

In a post-match interview, Alcaraz said, “He’s really complete player. I’m gonna say you know, Rublev said a few times. He’s an octopus. You know, he tracks every ball. It is amazing. You know, he’s an amazing athlete.”?

Ahead of the semi-final match between Alcaraz and Medvedev, Alcaraz really commends that Medvedev is a complete player and an amazing athlete. Both the players have mutual respect for each other and have had nice things to say about each other.

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Daniil Medvedev on Carlos Alcaraz

Not only Alcaraz, but even Medvedev has also had nice things to say about Alcaraz in the past. When Djokovic wasn’t allowed to play in the United States of America because of the vaccination issue and Alcaraz won the US Open and Indian Wells, questions were raised if he is truly the deserving world no.1. But Medvedev spoke in defense of Alcaraz calling him the deserved world no.1.

Medvedev also said that Alcaraz is very talented and can win up to 5 Wimbledon trophies. Medvedev has appreciated his style of play, especially crediting him for his well-disguised drop shots. He also said, ?In my opinion, the way Carlos plays on every surface, he can win maybe five Wimbledons, but you never know.

Though they have mutual respect for each other, they are going to fiercely battle it out on the court on Friday. One thing for sure is that it is going to be a cracker of a match!

The most recent encounter came in March 2023 in the Indian Wells finals, where the world no.1 thumped Medvedev in just 1 hour and 10 minutes. However, as far as grass and Wimbledon are concerned, Medvedev breezed past Alcaraz in straight sets in 2021. But the thing that needs to be acknowledged was that Alcaraz was ranked no.75 in the world and virtually nobody expected him to win. But this match is different.

So who do you think will advance to the final of tennis’ grandest stage for the first time? Let us know in the comment section.

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