The US Open has already defined its champion of the men’s branch, in the middle of the election day in Argentina, with a spectacular performance by Russian Daniil Medvedev, world number two, who defeated in the final Novak Djokovic, one of the ranking, with a triple 6-4 that pulverized the Serbian’s dream of reaching the “Grand Slam”.
Set 1: An early offense
The final in New York started better for the Russian, who beat Canadian Felix-Auger Aliassime in the semifinals 6-4, 7-5 and 6-2. Medvedev successfully started his strategy with an early break, to get 2-0 up. The king of the world rankings, in the third game, managed to display all his quality to lift a 15-40 that would have put the initial set in trouble for him.
The Muscovite took advantage of the fact that Djokovic did not have the expected start of the final match of the last Grand Slam of the year. The Serbian made several mistakes and did not perform well with his returns and second serves, with a very low 36% of winning points there. To the errors of the Serbian (2-1 in double faults) was added an aggressive Medvedev, who surpassed him in all dimensions at the beginning of the action in New York.
Although he managed to make up for that fragile start as the set progressed, the Russian defined it in his first closing attempt. The end of the set that Medvedev conquered 6-4 was a metaphor for what was seen in the first part of the final: a bad return from Nole gave a double set point to Moscow, who with Spike Lee behind him, a luxury spectator in the front row, he lowered the curtain on the first act with his eighth ace (The Serbian only specified four).
Set 2: Serbian frustration
The second set started with the feeling that the Serbian had just become aware of the power with which Medvedev was going in search of his Grand Slam dream: the game was more even than in the first half and the initial games were distributed, each one winning with his serve. Djokovic, Nevertheless, he won his second, leaving again on the court a fallible tennis that is not usual in him: number one wanted to close with a smash, which he did not execute with precision and had to repeat to get 2-1.
The third game was the break point. And the one in which the Serbian’s frustration literally took shape on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Djokovic had missed two break point chances when Medvedev took the lead after an unforced error of his. The Serbian’s reaction? He smashed the racket with three violent blows that shattered it and left the shock absorber on the ground.
Despite the encouragement of the public, eager to see a final with the Serbian in his best version, Medvedev won the game and went 2-2. The Russian took the second set by the same 6-4, with a superior game in all areas and before a Djokovic who followed his sequence of mistakes and, in addition, reprinted the bad memory of his last stint at the American Grand Slam. Last year, in the midst of a pandemic, he should have been disqualified from the round of 16 after hitting a judge in his game against Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta.
Set 3: The Final Difference
The third set was a continuation of what happened in New York since the start of the US Open final. Again the Russian exposed the best of his game, which led him to be number two in the world, against which he reigns in the professional elite men’s circuit. AND Djokovic, in front of figures who did not want to miss a golden page of tennis (from Lupita Nyong’o to Brad Pitt were present in the stands), He was once again overwhelmed by the possibility of signing a historic day.
Serbian, which came after a five-set battle against the German Zverev, he seemed to feel above him the greatness of the two landmarks of modern tennis that would have his name if he won. The possibility of staying with the record of 20 Grand Slam titles, which he shares with the other members of the “Big Three”, the Swiss Roger Federer and the Spanish Rafael Nadal -both absent due to injury in New York- and the conquest of the so-called “Grand Slam Calendar”, following their titles at Australia, Roland Garros and Wimbledon this season.
The last to get it all four Majors in the same year had been the Australian Rod Laver, in 1969, who was also present at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, almost as if to make it impossible for the Serbian to run such a feat from his head during the game.
The Russian broke the Serbian’s first set in the last set of the 2021 edition of the US Open and that was only the first step towards the set in which the difference between the two performances became more noticeable. And is that Medvedev managed to go 3-0 closing both games thanks to unforced errors by Djokovic, who continued his difficult afternoon to the end.
The world number one did not give up the story even when he went out to serve 4-0 down. With plenty of quality and experience on his shoulders, the Serbian did not lose his serve again and even snatched the game in which he began serving for the title from Medvedev. He managed to get 4-5 and, at the end of the third game in a row he won, thanked the audience for the ovation raising his fist while resting and cooling off.
But In the tenth game, the second with his serve in search of his dream title, Medvedev came out to show his own worth, the one that in addition to making him superior to Djokovic on the historic Sunday in New York places him in the second step of the world ranking. With a fast, aggressive and precise tennis like the one he showed in most of the game, the Russian generated a double point for the championship. After a double fault that will be forgotten, he sealed the obtaining of his first Grand Slam, winning by triple 6-4 and snatching the Serbian his chance to stay with the two long-awaited tennis milestones of these times.
.
