Winning all four majors in a single tennis calendar year is rare and may not come again. With Sunday's victory, Medvedev also shut down Djokovic's chance at least, this season to overtake his rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, for the all-time men's record of Grand Slam singles titles.
Now, Djokovic will finish out this tennis season still tied with his 'Big Three' competitors at 20 Grand Slam titles each. Djokovic, the youngest of the 'Big Three' at years-old, has won eight of his 20 major championships in the last three years. Both Nadal years-old and Federer years-old missed this year's US Open tournament with injuries.
Djokovic, did, however tie Federer for the most Grand Slam final appearances in history with Medvedev jumped out to a dominant start in the championship match. His first and second serves were incredible and the only time Djokovic, one of the world's best returners, managed to break him came at in the third set.
With his impressive hard court speed -- he's arguably the fastest on tour right now -- Medvedev seemingly got to every ball, which left Djokovic scrambling to pick up the pieces after a few dropshots Medvedev managed to reach.
Djokovic, perhaps fatigued or stunned by nerves, seemed slow in the outset of the match. It appeared that Medvedev had done some serious prep after the pair's last meeting at the Australian Open earlier this year in February where Djokovic dominated.
Down in the third set, Djokovic rallied to bring it to Medvedev missed his first championship point at , , and later lost another via double fault. But, he regained composure and brushed off the tension to ultimately clinch the match on his third chance two games later. Medvedev finished the match with 16 aces, 38 winners and an 81 win percentage on his first serve. It turned out to be true that third time's a charm, for the year-old Medvedev at least.
Playing in just his third career Grand Slam final, Medvedev became the first player of his generation to defeat any of the 'Big Three' legends in a Grand Slam final. He's also just the second player born in the 's to win a men's singles Grand Slam title after Dominic Thiem born in defeated Alexander Zverev for the US Open title. Since that last meeting in Melbourne, Medvedev took over the world No.
Djokovic, for his part, had managed to overcome earlier threats from the 'Next Gen' players this season, defeating Medvedev in the Australian Open final , Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open final and Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon final but came into trouble when facing Medvedev's impressive serve in New York this year.
It's also worth pointing out that Medvedev came into this final a bit fresher than Djokovic, benefitting from an easier draw and only spending 11 hours and 51 minutes on court to reach the final, compared to Djokovic's 17 hours and 26 minutes. In a thrilling semifinal match on Thursday, Djokovic outlasted world No.
That match included a shot rally , the longest of this year's US Open and Djokovic's career. Medvedev, meanwhile, took down Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets, , , , on Thursday to reach the final. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options.
Novak Djokovic reacts after scoring a point against Kei Nishikori during their third-round match at the U. Open on Saturday. By Helene Elliott Sports Columnist. Frances Tiafoe returns a shot during his victory over Andrey Rublev at the U. Sports Elliott: Naomi Osaka needs break after U.
Helene Elliott. Emma Raducanu has pulled off her second consecutive Grand Slam cinderella run. The 18 year-old Brit made it to the fourth round in front of a home crowd at Wimbledon in her Slam debut. Ranked No. She now faces No. Bencic had a similar breakout run to Raducanu when she made the quarters of the US Open at 17 years old.
Experience favors Bencic as she looks to advance to the semis which she did in and potentially further. It is no surprise to see No. Pliskova lost in a tight three sets to Barty in the Wimbledon final, lost in the finals of the Canadian Masters , and reached the semis at Cincinnati.
Nevertheless, she faces a tough quarterfinal opponent in No. Sakkari has had a stellar season making the semis of Roland Garros and has had solid matches in New York knocking out two higher seeds No. After Raducanu, Leylah Fernandez is the second youngest player remaining and has arguably had the more impressive path to the quarters knocking out defending champion Osaka and champion and No.
Fernandez faces another tough matchup against No. Svitolina also made the semis in and will look to build on her momentum and make an even deeper run. A potential semifinal matchup against Sabalenka would be intriguing as the pair have split their two career meetings, both in three sets.
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