Novak Djokovic sets the Grand Slam record with his 24th title after winning the US Open over Daniil Medvedev
ovak Djokovic equaled Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles with a masterclass against Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final in New York.
In what was a 10Th With the US Open final for the Serb, who returns as world No. 1 on Monday, he won his fourth title in New York and the first since 2018, becoming the oldest tournament winner in the Open era.
He has since been banned from the tournament and refused to take part last year because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid.
This was a repeat of the 2021 final, which Medvedev had dominated on his wedding day and which ended with Djokovic in tears after receiving the adulation from the crowd he had longed for, albeit in defeat .
For this final – again marking Medvedev’s anniversary – Djokovic had the majority of support, including American actor Matthew McConaughey in his box.
And on court he showed a strategic masterclass, identifying a weakness in Medvedev’s decision to receive so deep behind the baseline, making more serves and volleys than he had in any game in New York.
In fact, it was a far closer final than the score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 suggested, but at the same time there was always the feeling that the older man was superior to his opponent. This also led to Djokovic leaving the Big Apple after losing sets in just one game. The anomaly was his five-setter against compatriot Laslo Djere earlier in the week.
Afterwards, Djokovic said: “It means a lot to me. I’m truly living my childhood dream. Writing the history of this sport is something truly special and remarkable. I never imagined I would be here talking about 24 Slams.”
Medvedev had proven to be a disruptive factor in the preliminary round and prevented Djokovic’s expected final against Carlos Alcaraz with such a brilliant semi-final performance. He didn’t quite manage a repeat in the final as his opponent won three of the four Grand Slams in a calendar year for the fourth time in his illustrious career.
The game’s opening ball took 19 shots, hinting at the potential slugfest that lay ahead.
Djokovic did well to hold his first serve game, but then broke Medvedev to equalize. Both had an outstanding record of winning the first set – in Djokovic’s case, he had won 72 of 73 previous US Open matches when he won the first set.
He was unable to take the first two set points that eventually fell to him through Medvedev’s serve, but duly took the set in his subsequent service game.
The feeling that Djokovic could run away with this proved unfounded as the players could hardly be separated in the second set.
In reality, Medvedev knew he had to win the second set to stay in the game and did well to fend off the constant pressure on his own serve.
But the first break opportunity in the set came in the seventh game, which turned out to be a strange game. Djokovic stumbled at one point and landed on the blue surface, breathless and with a prostate, a strange reaction with the roof closed and the air conditioning on at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic was clearly tiring and Medvedev did well to extend the points as much as possible. Medvedev earned his first break point of the evening in the next game with an overhead smash before stunningly recovering from Djokovic.
With the score at 5:6, Medvedev had another break point on his rival’s serve, but saved himself again with the serve volley tactic.
In the tiebreak, Medvedev made the minibreak, but Djokovic was able to push back again. The set seemed to rest almost at point nine as each player from either end of the court threw everything at the other. This resulted in an advantage for Djokovic.
Moments later, Djokovic had won the set thanks to a limp backhand from Medvedev into the net, and the game clock was already two and a half hours old.
Medvedev immediately called the coach for treatment on his shoulder and painkillers, a topic that clearly bothered him until the end.
His frustration resulted in a heated exchange with his coach, Frenchman Gilles Cervara, who pleaded with his player to stick to the game plan.
But the Russian was only broken in the fourth game by Djokovic, who had victory in his sights, allowing his rival to recover with arguably his worst service game of the evening.
Any notion that a comeback might be imminent was dashed by a third straight service break that allowed the Djokovic camp to dust off its 24 jackets, which were rolled out shortly after the win.
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-us-open-daniil-medvedev-b1106111.html Novak Djokovic sets the Grand Slam record with his 24th title after winning the US Open over Daniil Medvedev
