Daniil Medvedev was full of praise for Martin Landaluce after beating him at the Italian Open.
Medvedev came from a set down to beat Landaluce 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the Italian Open semifinals.
This means that Medvedev will now play Jannik Sinner on clay for the first time in his career, as he looks to return to the Italian Open final.
Following his latest win, Medvedev actually compared Landaluce to both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Daniil Medvedev praises Martin Landaluce after his performance in the first set
Landaluce reached the Miami Open quarterfinals as a qualifier earlier this year, but he actually was unable to qualify for the Italian Open.
However, Valentin Vacherot’s withdrawal gave Landaluce a lucky loser spot and he took full advantage of it.
Although he was unable to beat Medvedev, Landaluce inflicted the heaviest set loss to the former world number one of his tournament so far.
When speaking to Tennis TV on court after the match, Medvedev claimed that Landaluce’s level in the first set was like a top five player, suggesting that he would only be behind Sinner and Alcaraz if he played like that all the time.
“He played unreal in the beginning,” said Medvedev, “I mean look, if he played like this first set in every set of every match, top five by the end of the year, Turin, next after Sinner and Alcaraz.
“But, when you’re young it’s tough to play the full match like this. Even Jannik had problems with this and he managed to solve it as we see.
“So I just fought. I managed to find my rhythm a bit in the second set and then after the rain, I don’t know why maybe the court was a bit heavier, but he was playing a bit slower. So then I managed, I felt like I was controlling the game from this point and I’m happy that I managed to seal the victory.”
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Where will Martin Landaluce be ranked after the Italian Open?
Landaluce had already made his top 100 debut after his breakthrough run at the Miami Open, and was at his career-high ranking of world number 94 prior to the Italian Open.
The 20-year-old is set to continue his rise after reaching the quarterfinals in Rome, with Landaluce climbing into the top 70 for the first time.
Landaluce is currently 45th in the race to the ATP Finals, which suggests that a top 50 debut could be on the cards for the young Spaniard.
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He is also scheduled to play in qualifying at the Geneva Open next week, before Landaluce makes his main draw debut at the French Open.
Landaluce’s only previous Grand Slam main draw appearance was at the 2025 Australian Open, where he lost in the first round.
