On the night of September 8-9, Moscow time, the men’s singles semifinals were held at the US Open in New York. The first match of the day pitted 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, the second seed, against unseeded American Ben Shelton; The 20-year-old’s top-four finish was the biggest surprise in the men’s draw. However, Djokovic stopped the young rival, winning 6:3, 6:2, 7:6 (7:4). Read more about this fight in a separate article.
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And late at night, Moscow time, the third racket in the world, Daniil Medvedev, and the leader of the ATP ranking, Carlos Alcaraz, took to the court (however, on Monday, the Spaniard will give first place to Djokovic , this became known when Novak entered the second round). This match was truly a championship match, in the sense that the last two US Open winners played. Let us remember that in 2021 the title was won by Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in three sets, and a year ago Alcaraz turned out to be the strongest, beating Casper Ruud.
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Alcaraz walked with great confidence tournament group way to the semifinals. In five games he lost only one game. This happened in the third round, when the Spaniard’s opponent was the British Daniel Evans (26). Medvedev lost a set twice: in the second round with Australian Christopher O’Connell and in the fourth round with his compatriot Alex de Miñaur (13). Furthermore, in the round of 16 the Russian found himself in a position to catch up, but was able to please the fans with a comeback. And in the hot quarterfinals against Andrei Rublev (8), three games were enough for Daniil: 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
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What the participants of the semifinals said before the match
Medvedev acknowledged that to defeat Alcaraz it is necessary to play at 110 percent. “You have to play 11 out of 10 to beat Alcaraz because he is very strong. I think he lost a set in this tournament. This is incredible. In the last two meetings Carlos beat me, let’s say, quite easily. I’m not going to give up and I’ll try to improve, but I need to be prepared for 11 out of 10 to try to beat Carlos. He has all the shots and that makes it difficult to play against Carlos. He has extra power. But in tennis you can always beat anyone. There are players who have beaten Novak Djokovic. There are those who beat Rafa Nadal even on clay, which is almost impossible. The same thing happens with Carlos. Every time I play with him I try to win,” he said at a press conference after reaching the semifinals.
Alcaraz recalled previous matches with Daniil. In direct confrontations, by the way, the advantage was on the Spanish side: 2-1. The Russian defeated his rival in the second round of Wimbledon 2021, but then, in 2023, he only lost: in the final of the Indian Wells Masters (3-6, 2-6) and in the semifinals of Wimbledon ( 3-6). :6, 3 :6, 3:6).
Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon 2023
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
“In previous matches with Daniil I played tactically perfectly. I did everything I had to do very well against him, so I think my game is good against opponents like Daniil. I will try to do the same as I did in Indian Wells or Wimbledon. I hope to win and show the same level as in those matches,” Carlos said at a press conference after reaching the semifinals.
How experts evaluated the chances of Medvedev and Alcaraz
1995 Davis Cup finalist Andrei Chesnokov expressed hope in Medvedev’s phenomenal tennis; in his opinion, this is the only way to defeat Alcaraz. “Today Medvedev is ready. I understand that he is very tired against Rublev. The three hours they played is equivalent to a five-hour game. Alcaraz simply demolished Zverev in the quarterfinals. But Zverev gave his all in the marathon with Sinner. But Alcaraz and Zverev played in Madrid, there Carlos completely killed it.
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In the match against Alcaraz, Medvedev must show something interesting. I hope Daniil shows a phenomenal performance. Medvedev can win, but I think Alcaraz is the favorite. Medvedev lost his serve more times in the match against Rublev than Djokovic did during the entire Australian Open in winter,” Chesnokov said in an interview with “Championship.”
Two-time TBS mixed doubles champion Andrei Olkhovsky gave Medvedev some advice. “To beat Alcaraz, Medvedev needs to show his best tennis. Against Alcaraz it will be a slightly different match because Carlos is not afraid to attack. Medvedev needs to serve and play with precision, vary the pace and try to attack comfortably. Daniel himself knows what to do. We need to show the best that Danya is capable of,” Olkhovsky said in an interview with Championship.
And four-time TBS tag team and mixed doubles champion Elena Vesnina expressed confidence that Medvedev had learned his lesson from Alcaraz’s previous defeats. “Probably, on paper, Alcaraz can be considered the clear favorite in the match against Medvedev. Carlos won his last two direct confrontations. But now the situation is completely different. Medvedev is in very good shape. He had great matches with De Minaur and Rublev. Andrey caused a lot of trouble, but Danya left no chance. All of his matches are very stable and even, without declines.
I am sure that Medvedev will draw conclusions from the recent defeats in the matches against Alcaraz. I think we will have a very strong fight in this semifinal. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a five-set match,” Vesnina said in an interview with Championship.
Daniil Medvedev plays at the US Open – 2023
Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
Throughout the first set the rivals maintained their serve. Furthermore, while Alcaraz did so with confidence for a long time, Medvedev initially struggled. Thus, already in the long second game he committed three double faults. He was tied four times, but still the Russian did not let his opponent reach break points. And in the fourth game, the Spaniard got a double break point, but failed.
Some indications that Daniil was looking for a break appeared only in the eleventh game, in which Carlos served for 0:30. But the winner of last year’s tournament spent the rest of the match quietly, not allowing his opponent to interrupt the match.
At one point, Medvedev complained to the judge in the tower that something was shining in his eyes: either a spotlight or a spectator. Be that as it may, the Russian took the game 12 to zero; one of the ties deserves a separate description. Daniil went to the net, played from the fly ball, then there was an exchange of blows from the fly ball, and after several blows in a row, Alcaraz went out into the hallway.
In the tie-break, Medvedev was successful in the first mini-break. However, the Russian immediately lost the advantage to him, committing another double fault (in total he committed six during the game). And then Alcaraz started making mistakes, making two obvious and unforced ones! Daniil, having reached triple set point, converted it with the winners 7:6 (7:3) in 57 minutes. In general, Carlos, who in this game scored regularly (and successfully) (20 out of 23), surpassed his opponent in key statistics (winners – 16 against 12, unforced errors – nine against 12), but an unsuccessful draw- The rest nullified all his efforts.
The victory in the first match gave Medvedev confidence. In the first game of the second set he took his shot to love, and then for the first time in the match he achieved a break point and immediately made it 2-0. Alcaraz, on serve, had a second unsuccessful game and continued to accumulate unforced errors. In the third game, the Russian also did not give the Spaniard a single draw, after which he was able to take another’s serve again, but missed a double break point (3-1).
However, this was the only match Carlos had left. Then Daniil again brought his game to zero (for the fifth time in a row, if we count from the end of the first set!), and in the sixth game, at the second chance, he scored a second break – 5: 1. By serving for the set, Medvedev allowed his opponent to reach 40:30, but only 6:1 in 38 minutes. The Russian fulfilled beyond all praise, and Alcaraz, on the contrary, failed completely in this game, allowing 10 unforced against three of his rival.
In the third set, Alcaraz, who had nowhere to retreat, regrouped, added and in the fourth game he made a break, winning the last two points with beautiful dribbles 3:1. In the seventh game, Medvedev tried to hold on to the opponent’s serve (twice (“exactly”)), but it did not allow him to reach break points, much less.
The Russian fought to the end in this match. At 5:3, the Spaniard, who served for the set, got a triple set point. Daniil played two of them, but the third could not win 6:3 in 47 minutes. In this game, Carlos again began to reach the net more frequently and successfully (13 out of 15), and in terms of actively won points he far surpassed his opponent: 13 against four. In the fourth set, Alcaraz clearly had no intention of staying there, and already in the third game Medvedev had to make great efforts not to lose serve. The Russian saved all three break points: the Spaniard unsuccessfully managed to finish the match.
And the sixth game became the true highlight of the match, and even of the entire tournament. Daniil, despite the fact that it was 40:15 on the opponent’s serve, earned a break point (Carlos again made a series of errors), but he did not take advantage of it. Then, Alcaraz missed a bunch of game balls: Medvedev managed to match them every time. During this period, both tennis players demonstrated a level worthy of the US Open semifinals. And at the end of the match, the Russian put pressure on his opponent, after the Spaniard scored twice in a row without success! Thus the score was 4:2 in favor of Daniil.
After that, the rivals exchanged victories in their games and with 5:3 Medvedev served for the match. The madness was happening here too: Daniil allowed his opponent to reach a double break point, but fought back, then allowed a double break point on match point, saved another break point (after the second consecutive double!) , Lost two more Match Points, but the fourth one finally converted! The final score is 7:6 (7:3), 6:1, 3:6, 6:3 in favor of Medvedev, who played against Alcaraz for 3 hours and 23 minutes.
This is how Medvedev reached his third US Open final and his fifth TBS final. The decisive match between Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic will take place on Sunday, September 10. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
