US Open Final: Djokovic vs. Medvedev

[Fiero425]

I have consolation prize in picking Medvedev to win tournament Actually picked all 4 slams correct winner this year. Novak fell apart there completely during the 2nd set, Serena like.

Medvedev was the only true threat with an honorable mention of Zverev, but until Sascha defeats a top player in BO5, I'm going to favor them over him each time! He did represent well this tourney with a very respectable effort, but in the end Nole cruised to another win in 5 sets SF! Medvedev is like Wawrinka and can go toe to toe with Djokovic! He was the only legitimate threat and as with Stan in Paris, Nole didn't even look like he was in the match!

 

[Jelenafan]

No Rafa..No Roger, no Stan..no Dominic Thiem.. beside last year mental midget.. Novak played Nobody.. His road was not difficult, IMO

I beg to differ. In the past , I would buy your argument but not in September 2021

Daniil prior to this victory had won the YEC on HC, 4 different Masters on HC (5 finals in all) , made the SF's or better in 4 out of the last 5 HC Majors, and made 2 previous Major finals, (USO and AO). One could argue he had 2nd best record of anyone who had not yet won a Major in the last 20 years (except naturally Andy Murray). Plus he has beaten Djokovic 4 times, including 3 years on HC. Did I mention he is also ranked #2 in the world?

So one could argue that Medvedev pushing through the final ceiling and winning a HC Major even over #1 Novak is hardly a shocker result.

One could also argue that Zverev is also due any time to win a Major because of his natural progression ( HC Major finalist, twice Major SF, 5 Masters HC finals, 2 Masters HC wins, HC Olympic title, HC YEC, etc) and has probably the 3rd best record of someone who has yet to win a HC Major. He has beaten Novak 3 times, including twice in HC including this years Olympics. Did I mention he is ranked # 4 in the world (a smidge behind Tsitsipas)

Novak played them both back to back, as well as playing the Wimbledon finalist (Berretinii) in the QTRS.

I would say Novak had probably the toughest QTR/SF/FINAL path possible. At the least by the time he played Daniil he was a bit battered and bruised (give Berretini and especially Zverev an assist)

Federer, let's be honest, probably wouldn't have been a factor, (hasn't won the USO in 12 years) Stan has been injured and not really been a factor in Majors the last few years. Theim not playing isn't a factor because he's been playing poorly for a very long stretch. Granted, 4 time USO champ Rafa when healthy is always a threat, but even Rafa hasn't beaten Novak in a HC in 7 years.

So if Novak had won the USO and completed the Calender Grand Slam with this cast of 2021 players, IMO it wouldn't have put any asterick * in front of it.

 

[Fiero425]

He got fined for smashing his racket.

I saw! I've broken many a racket! Something has to be done to expell that frustration! Sometimes you have to destroy a tennis racket!

 

[Mile]

Medvedev deserve that win. He played his best match. Djoker could not bring best game. Thats it. But i hope 21st will come in 2022. Now i hope he could win some masters to bypass Nadal with 36.

 

[don_fabio]

I beg to differ. In the past , I would buy your argument but not in September 2021

Daniil prior to this victory had won the YEC on HC, 4 different Masters on HC (5 finals in all) , made the SF's or better in 4 out of the last 5 HC Majors, and made 2 previous Major finals, (USO and AO). One could argue he had 2nd best record of anyone who had not yet won a Major in the last 20 years (except naturally Andy Murray). Plus he has beaten Djokovic 4 times, including 3 years on HC. Did I mention he is also ranked #2 in the world?

So one could argue that Medvedev pushing through the final ceiling and winning a HC Major even over #1 Novak is hardly a shocker result.

One could also argue that Zverev is also due any time to win a Major because of his natural progression ( HC Major finalist, twice Major SF, 5 Masters HC finals, 2 Masters HC wins, HC Olympic title, HC YEC, etc) and has probably the 3rd best record of someone who has yet to win a HC Major. He has beaten Novak 3 times, including twice in HC including this years Olympics. Did I mention he is ranked # 4 in the world (a smidge behind Tsitsipas)

Novak played them both back to back, as well as playing the Wimbledon finalist (Berretinii) in the QTRS.

I would say Novak had probably the toughest QTR/SF/FINAL path possible. At the least by the time he played Daniil he was a bit battered and bruised (give Berretini and especially Zverev an assist)

Federer, let's be honest, probably wouldn't have been a factor, (hasn't won the USO in 12 years) Stan has been injured and not really been a factor in Majors the last few years. Theim not playing isn't a factor because he's been playing poorly for a very long stretch. Granted, 4 time USO champ Rafa when healthy is always a threat, but even Rafa hasn't beaten Novak in a HC in 7 years.

So if Novak had won the USO and completed the Calender Grand Slam with this cast of 2021 players, IMO it wouldn't have put any asterick * in front of it.

Agree with all. Anyone thinking this is weak era just because Nadal and Fed are missing doesn't know much about tennis. Novak has been battling these guys this whole year and they give him same amount of trouble as Nadal and Fed. They have really stepped up these 3, Med, Zverev and Tsitsipas. There was so much mentioning about passing the torch to the younger guys and I feel this is finally the moment when it all starts. edit. That being said I expect next year at least 2 out of 4 slams to be won by young guys as a bare minimum.

 

[Fiero425]

Medvedev deserve that win. He played his best match. Djoker could not bring best game. Thats it. But i hope 21st will come in 2022. Now i hope he could win some masters to bypass Nadal with 36.

I'm not going to sulk over this loss! I had felt early on Djokovic had the toughest road to the final and he needed Medvedev to be upset! He's the only player who can go "toe to toe" with Djokovic and the times he's defeated is when Nole can take his legs away! That wasn't happening this match and very early on I didn't see a comeback! If it had been Sascha I'd have hope, but Daniil's tough! He has that ugly kind of game I dislike, but it's oh so effective with sneaky power and catlike quickness! He never really struggled and only gave us a glimmer of hope double faulting a game away in the 3rd! This is equivalent to Navratilova outlasting Evert & Goolagong, but had no respite needing to survive the next wave of players in Graf, Sabatini, and Seles! It's going to get tougher and tougher to get motivated to compete and the losses will come! I just hope Djokovic can hold it together for the next season or 2 to separate himself from Fedal!

 

[the AntiPusher]

Power comes through your wrist for starters, Theim,he has just got the cast off his wrist,lets see how he goes next year.

The wrist is full of delicate ligaments..I hope this isn't something chronic.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The wrist is full of delicate ligaments..I hope this isn't something chronic.

Well I would not like to get a wrist injury especially if I was playing tennis on an elite level,or a shoulder injury...I know Pat Rafter has had to have 2 more surgery's on his Rotor Cuff since he retired,as you are aware it caused him to retire in the first instance.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I just listened to the ESPN tennis analysts team during the post match wrap up say "Novak didn't have his legs" for what occurred today. For most players I would agree but not Novak. Johnny Mac said during the 2-3 afterwards a 23 stroke rally, Novak doesn't have his legs yet , will he get them? History has shown he normally does.
Whenever he looses , it's has to do with his fitness but not a injury. Whereas when he comes back from down 0-2 vs Tsitspas or Thiem , he is the most mentally prepared player of today. That's Bull. Novak just got his clock cleaned by the most mentally prepared player today who came today with a BETTER executed strategic plan. Daniil's post championship speech saying Novak is the greatest was what he said about Rafa a few years ago when he lost. Rafa had just destroyed him in Montreal a few weeks earlier by loosing less than 4 games if my memory serves me correctly.
As for what really happened today for Novak it was Daniil's game that broke his will just like the last time Rafa defeated Novak at RG and a few years ago at the USO. Novak loss his confidence which quickly fatigue his legs and his enthusiasm to compete.

 

[Fiero425]

I just listened to the ESPN tennis analysts team during the post match wrap up say "Novak didn't have his legs" for what occurred today. For most players I would agree but not Novak. Johnny Mac said during the 2-3 afterwards a 23 stroke rally, Novak doesn't have his legs yet , will he get them? History has shown he normally does.
Whenever he loses , it has to do with his fitness, but not a injury. Whereas when he comes back from down 0-2 vs Tsitspas or Thiem , he is the most mentally prepared player of today. That's Bull. Novak just got his clock cleaned by the most mentally prepared player today who came today with a BETTER executed strategic plan. Daniil's post championship speech saying Novak is the greatest was what he said about Rafa a few years ago when he lost. Rafa had just destroyed him in Montreal a few weeks earlier by losing less than 4 games if my memory serves me correctly.
As for what really happened today for Novak it was Daniil's game that broke his will just like the last time Rafa defeated Novak at RG and a few years ago at the USO. Novak lost his confidence which quickly fatigued his legs and his enthusiasm to compete.

Well at that time, Nadal had a significant lead of 3 or 4 majors over Nole! What was he going to say to the guy, "sorry, but even though you kicked my arse, Nole will eventually come close to winning the CYGS and match you and Roger so I have to grant him that honor of 'GOAT?'" I don't think it would have gone over well!

 

[Vince Evert]

Amateur film highlights of the men's singles final. Nice camera work with alternate angles.

 

[nehmeth]

Congratulations to Danil Medvedev. He never allowed his opponent to gain any momentum. Mentally he was prepared for the task at hand. I am happy for his breakthrough slam to come at such an auspicious moment in history.

 

[Ricardo]

H

He choked really bad for one service game. He definitely was tight at the end, but got the job done in 3, so I wouldn't go that hard on him for the tight game.

he also choked the second time he served for it, again double faulted on match point. He said it after he wasn’t able to walk properly but fortunately finally fired a first serve to seal it. He was given a lot of opportunities, even then i felt he only just got over the line…..just because he won doesn’t mean he didn’t choke hard, he choked pretty hard.

 

[Ricardo]

It’s a bit of irony that Novak lost his biggest match against a player who plays exactly like him. Meds biggest strength is tirelessly getting balls back and counter punch, also called the lockdown mode.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I think the moment Novak will regret the most is game 2 second set where he had Medvedev at 0-40, and he couldn’t break. It might not have changed the final outcome, but it certainly could have caused Medvedev to lose a bit of focus and make this a bit more of a match.

 

[tossip]

Only Russians will understand

am just guessing but logic says that’s what he would have said

russians never win multiple slams we all know that..pova is american

 

[Moxie]

Only Russians will understand

am just guessing but logic says that’s what he would have said

Turns out, it was "legends." It's a gamer reference...I had to look it up. Something to do with FIFA game, and a celebration when you win, called the dead fish. So he brought it to life on court. Said it hurt, too. LOL.

 

[britbox]

russians never win multiple slams we all know that..pova is american

Kafelnikov and Safin might have a different opinion.

 

[britbox]

I think it's a shame he (Djoker) didn't pull it off. It probably would have gone down as the greatest achievement in tennis history. I know a few Fedal fans will be rubbing their hands in glee, but it would have been immense if you look beyond fandom.

 

[kskate2]

I think it's a shame he (Djoker) didn't pull it off. It probably would have gone down as the greatest achievement in tennis history. I know a few Fedal fans will be rubbing their hands in glee, but it would have been immense if you look beyond fandom.

Hey Baron,

Good to see you. It would have been huge, but the journey itself has garnered so much worldwide attention. This slam chase along w/ the teen queens will provide tennis with quite a few new fans.