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Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs recently extended her respect to Daniil Medvedev. Stubbs believes that the Russian's accomplishments are often overlooked by fans.
Medvedev was in his element during last week's Indian Wells Masters, outlasting several great opponents en route to the final. The Russian, however, had no answer for Carlos Alcaraz's swashbuckling groundstrokes in the title clash, surrendering 6-7(5), 1-6 in one hour and 44 minutes.
At several points during the match, the 28-year-old was flustered at the Indian Wells crowd for their roaring support of his younger opponent. Against that background, Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs saw fit to give her flowers to the former World No. 1 on the latest episode of 'Racquet's Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.'
The 52-year-old argued that fans gave Daniil Medvedev far less credit than he deserved just because he wasn't as dynamic a player as Carlos Alcaraz. She added that the Russian got a similar treatment from the local crowd during the Australian Open final against Jannik Sinner.
She did, however, express admiration for the World No. 4, claiming that his mental strength was warrior-like.
"I have so much respect for him. I know he gets a little bit sloppy on the courts, at times, yesterday he was egging the crowd on... it's a little tough for him because people love [Carlos] Alcaraz so much that they don't give [Daniil] Medvedev any credit in a lot of ways," Rennae Stubbs said on her podcast (at 59:26).
"It's so hard to watch sometimes... same in the Australian Open, with [Jannik] Sinner. It's like, he doesn't get as much love as I think he deserves, and he does deserve it. Because he's such a warrior, I like him as a player," she continued.
Daniil Medvedev has lost four of his six career matches against Carlos Alcaraz
Daniil Medvedev trails Carlos Alcaraz by a margin of 2-4 in their head-to-head meetings on the ATP Tour. The former US Open champion won their first match in straight sets in the second round of Wimbledon 2021 before the young Spaniard turned the rivalry on its head.
Alcaraz has defeated Medvedev in four of their five matches since he joined the Major-winners' circle in 2022. All four of his wins over the Russian have been straight-set affairs - the 2023 Indian Wells Masters final, Wimbledon 2023 semifinal, the 2023 ATP Finals round-robin stage, and most recently, the 2024 Indian Wells final.
Daniil Medvedev did manage to sneak one win in between his four losses, at the 2023 US Open. The former World No. 1 was in blazing form during that semifinal match, downing the Spaniard 7-6(3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
