On Sunday, September 10, the final match of the US Open men’s singles took place. The participants in the decisive confrontation were the third racket in the world, Daniil Medvedev, and the second number in the ATP ranking, Novak Djokovic, who will return to first place on September 11, displacing Carlos Alcaraz. Medvedev emerged victorious in the semifinals of a difficult battle with Alcaraz, winning the match 7:6 (7:3), 6:1, 3:6, 6:3. Djokovic spent much less effort, also because he had a simpler opponent. The Serbian confidently faced the 20-year-old American Ben Shelton, who was not even seeded. Novak won 6:3, 6:2, 7:6 (7:4).
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Medvedev and Djokovic already met in the US Open final. It was in 2021, and then the Russian did not give up a set to his rival 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 4. Thus, Daniil prevented Novak from collecting the so-called “Calendar Helmet”. Overall, Djokovic, who won his 23rd Grand Slam title at Roland Garros this year, has won the US Open three times in previous years: in 2011, 2015 and 2018. Medvedev was aiming for a second major title.
Despite such a significant victory, in personal meetings the Russian lost to the Serbian 5-9. After losing at the 2021 US Open, Novak won four matches in a row against Daniil, although in one of them, at Astana 2022, Medvedev retired due to injury before the decisive set. But the last match, played in the Dubai semifinals this spring, was won by the Russian 6-4, 6-4. The Serbian committed up to 38 unforced errors in that match.
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What Medvedev and Djokovic said before the match
Medvedev, in a press conference after reaching the final, told what he needs to do to defeat Djokovic. “Novak will be the best version of himself on Sunday and I need to be the best version of myself if I want to beat him. The only thing that can be useful from the 2021 final is knowing that Novak is never the same after losses. He is not like that, he has a different mentality. That’s why he has 23 Slams and everything else – Masters, weeks in the first racket ranking. I will need to understand that he will be 10 times better than he was then. And I need to be 10 times better than then if I want to beat him. I will try to do this,” Daniil said.
And he admitted that he would be angry if he lost: “If I lose on Sunday, I will be very angry. Although in theory it will still be a good tournament.”
Djokovic was in a philosophical mood. “I know I can become the oldest tennis player to win here. But I will try to approach this final like any other game. With the intention of winning. This will be the most important test, not only because it is a final, but also because I will face the opponent I lost to the last time we met in a Slam final. Daniil beat me in the final of the US Open 2021. I understand the importance, he is in excellent shape. But I’m also in great shape. And I like my chances.
Each Grand Slam final is another bid to make history, I understand it and I am proud of it. But I don’t allow myself to dwell on it or think too much about the story. Because when I thought about this in the past, in the same final of the US Open 2021, I couldn’t stand it and performed below my level. I don’t want this to happen again, so I will try to focus on what needs to be done, prepare tactically,” he said at a press conference after reaching the final.
How the experts evaluated the chances of the opponents
Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev expressed hope that Medvedev will not become emotionally exhausted. “It is clear how to play with Djokovic. The main thing is not to become emotionally exhausted. In terms of gameplay, Danya can definitely win. The main thing is to be fresh emotionally and physically. And Dani has everything else in the game. Serving is necessary, but also depends on freshness. So we will be supporting,” Tarpishchev said in an interview with Championship.
Four-time TBS tag team and mixed doubles champion Elena Vesnina suggested that psychology will decide everything. “First of all, there will be a psychological confrontation. The stronger the nerves, the better the game will be. Roddick once said, “Novak takes your legs first and then your soul!” There will be no favorite in this final. The chances are 50 to 50,” Vesnina said in an interview with “Championship.”
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Two-time TBS champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov considered Djokovic the clear favorite. “I want Medvedev to win. I didn’t see a single Dani game in this tournament. I’ll try to watch the ending today. In the semi-finals, Medvedev played stronger than Alcaraz and played a brilliant match. He deservedly defeated the Spaniard and moved on. But Djokovic is the clear favorite for the US Open final. It is obvious, it cannot be any other way,” Kafelnikov said in an interview with the Championship.
Two-time TBS mixed doubles champion Andrei Olkhovsky noted an interesting tactical point. “If Medvedev forces Djokovic to do something extraordinary, as he sometimes did in his matches… From the baseline, Djokovic couldn’t find an antidote to fend off Medvedev and was forced to keep going. In this case, Medvedev will have good chances, because Novak does not play so confidently on the volley,” Olkhovsky said in an interview with the Championship.
And the honorable coach of Russia, Viktor Yanchuk, said that Medvedev will defeat Djokovic. “I am sure that Medvedev will beat Djokovic. First of all, Daniil beat Novak more than once, including in this tournament. Secondly, time works against Djokovic: the Serbian is 36 years old, Medvedev is 27. This difference has an influence. Medvedev played brilliantly in the last match. I believe he will not lose the winning spirit of him. Daniil will play not only in defense, but also in attack. Medvedev began to attack himself very frequently. I think the victory will go to Daniil. He will survive psychologically. Djokovic must remember that he already received lessons from Medvedev. This will affect the Serbian game,” Yanchuk said in an interview with the Championship.
The fact that the final promises to be brilliant was made clear not only from the first game, but also from the very first play, where Djokovic, who won the toss and opted to serve, took the point after a 19-shot play. The Serbian took this game, closed it with two aces, then broke to love and took a 2-0 lead. Therefore, Medvedev immediately found himself in the position to catch up, and not only had to win back his own games, but also find something on his opponent’s serve.
At the beginning of the third game, the Russian increased his activity and Novak received 0:30 on his serve, but Daniil could not take advantage of his success: his opponent again finished with an ace. Then Medvedev, serving, made the score 3-1. But this was not enough. Djokovic did not allow his opponent to reach break points and the Serb’s serve was “accurate” only once. In the eighth game, Novak, with the score 5: 2 in his favor, had two set points in the reception, but Daniil, who then began to double fault, was saved on both occasions. And in the ninth game, Djokovic, who outplayed his opponent on the baseline throughout the game, successfully served to win the set: 6:3 in 48 minutes.
At the beginning of the second match, the tennis players took their games. During this period of the game, Djokovic seemed extremely confident and did not give his opponent any points with his serve, but Medvedev made unforced errors; In addition, he already scored two doubles in the first game. In the fifth game, the Russian had it even more difficult, but managed to escape with 0:30. And in the tense seventh game, Novak, who was still benefiting from Daniil’s mistakes, got a break point, but didn’t make it. After losing a point in one of the prolonged rallies, the Serbian collapsed on the court.
The eighth game was no less long than the previous one. Medvedev tried to change the course of the fight. For the first time in the match he had a break point, but Djokovic, who began to make more mistakes, intervened at the right moment and did not allow his opponent to go ahead 4:4. Then the rivals won the game on serve (5:5), and in the eleventh game there was a play that deserves a separate description. With the score at 40:30 with the Russian’s serve, the players staged an elegant 26-stroke play. After a long exchange, the Serb cut himself short, made a sail from the baseline and then reacted brilliantly to the blow and dribbled in a cross.
In the twelfth game, which was also very tense, Novak committed two double faults. Daniil had a set point on the reception, but did not convert it and had to play a tiebreaker. In it, the tennis players, with 4:4, gave another impressive play, this time of 23 strokes. Medvedev led the attack, hit powerfully in the corners, Djokovic responded each time, then cut it diagonally under the net, Daniil ran and played himself under the net, and Novak made a mistake in width, so the score was 5-4. Medvedev’s favor. Despite this, the tiebreak, and with it the set, remained in the hands of Djokovic, who took the next three points after his rival’s errors 7-6 (7-5). This party lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes!
Before the start of the third set, Medvedev took a medical break, during which his left shoulder was massaged. In the first games, opponents confidently held serve from him. In the third game, Medvedev volleyed at one point, then stumbled and fell into the net. Djokovic even went over the net after that and gave his opponent a friendly pat on the shoulder. He said everything was fine.
And in the fourth game, Novak somehow casually took someone else’s serve, giving only one move to Daniil, who at those moments was acting unsuccessfully, 3-1. But he did not give up and made a reverse escape. Here Djokovic already made a mistake, allowing, among other things, a double. However, in the sixth game the Serbian recovered completely and, after scoring a second break after 30-0 on the Russian’s serve, went ahead 4-2. Medvedev never recovered from such a blow. With 5:3, Djokovic, who was fighting for the title, converted the first ball of the championship: 6:3, 7:6 (7:5), 6:3 in 3 hours and 16 minutes.
This is how Djokovic took revenge on Medvedev for losing the 2021 US Open final. Daniil suffered his fourth defeat in his fifth Grand Slam tournament final. Novak, on the other hand, became a 24-time Grand Slam champion (only Margaret Court has the same number of women’s titles) and is even further ahead of Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20). And in terms of number of titles at the US Open (4), he reached John McEnroe and Nadal himself. In the men’s Open era, only Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Federer have won the tournament more often (all with five titles).
The US Open has come to an end. Next week, the men will host the group stage of the Davis Cup and the women will host the 500 meters in San Diegowhere Veronika Kudermetova, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Anastasia Potapova will perform, and the WTA-250 tournament in Osaka – Diana Schneider, Anna Kalinskaya and Valeria Savinykh will play there. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
