Russia’s Daniil Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic to win the US Open and net his first Grand Slam title.
He beat the Serbian 6-4, 6-4 and 6-4 on Sunday.
It denied Djokovic a calendar sweep of Grand Slams. He’d already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon this year.
Medvedev had lost both previous times he played in a major final, with Djokovic beating him in straight sets this year at the Australian Open.
“After the final in Australia, we had the feeling that Daniil didn’t have this fire that can help your game to be much stronger, especially against a player like Novak,” said Gilles Cervara, Medvedev’s coach. “So this had to change, for sure, to play this final at another level.
“Our feeling yesterday and today was that he was ready to compete and to be at a high level.”
The Russian has been there for a while, especially on hard courts. He leads all men’s players in wins and titles on that surface since 2018 and had reached the US Open semifinals in each of the last three years.
At his best, he is as good as anyone on a hard court — and way better than Djokovic on Sunday.
“I mean, he was hitting his spots very well,” Djokovic said. “He came out very determined on the court. You could feel that he was just at (the) highest of his abilities in every shot.”
Especially on his serve, which Cervara felt hadn’t been good enough this summer. Medvedev had 16 aces and put constant pressure on Djokovic with his serve, winning 42 of 52 points on first serve.
For more, including analysis from Euronews sports correspondent Michael Kurn on both US Open finals, watch the report in the video player, above
