Just when the U.S. Open was
on the verge of its dream weekend, Daniil Medvedev did perhaps the most
Medvedev-like thing and messed it all up.
.
With a stunning win over
Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning champion and 20-year-old wunderkind of the sport,
the 27-year-old Medvedev — the game’s happy troll, playful wiseguy and
unorthodox baseliner — took a wrench to the popular plans to watch the next
chapter of Alcaraz’s mounting generational rivalry with Novak Djokovic.
Instead of a rematch of an
epic Alcaraz-Djokovic final in the tuneup to this tournament three weeks ago,
which was a rematch of the Wimbledon final in July, which was a rematch of
their semifinal showdown at the French Open in June, Sunday will bring a
rematch of 2021 U.S. Open final between Medvedev and Djokovic.
On that day, Medvedev, the Russian
with the funky strokes, goofy one-liners, and dead fish victory celebration,
left Djokovic’s quest to become the first man in 50 years to win all four Grand
Slam titles in a calendar year in tatters, drubbing the seemingly unbeatable
Serbian champion in three sets.
“Novak is always better than
the previous time he played,” Medvedev said. “Novak is going to be his best
version Sunday, and I have to try to be my best version to beat him.”
Friday night, it was the
seemingly unstoppable Alcaraz, the sport’s showstopper of the moment, who
endured the head-on impact of a party crash. Medvedev chased after every ball
and snapped off one of the most lethal serves in the game throughout the night,
matching Alcaraz shot for shot and pushing him to the edge of losing his cool
in the second set. Alcaraz nearly threw his racket to the ground but held back
at the last moment. Medvedev then weathered Alcaraz’s third-set comeback
attempt to prevail in four sets over the tournament’s top seed and current
world No. 1, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
“I’m going to change my
mind,” Alcaraz said after the tense battle. “I’m not mature enough to handle
these kinds of matches.”
Alcaraz had his moments,
especially early in the third set, when he began dancing across the court and
taking control of points by flying into the net to deliver his stinging
volleys. He found that extra zip on his ground strokes and had Medvedev hanging
his head for the first time all night as Alcaraz halved the lead.
That was the trick he pulled
off in the marathon sixth game of the fourth set, which lasted nearly 15
minutes. He flung a backhand return onto the Spaniard’s shoelaces as he surged
toward the net on his second chance to break Alcaraz’s serve. He looked up at
the crowd and waved his fingers in the air, as he had been doing all night, his
how-about-some-love-for-me gesture.
Two games later, he had
locked up the second victory of the men’s semifinals in which durability won
out over style. The fingers went up to the air once more. Alcaraz had beaten him
handily twice this year. Not on this day, and then it was time to begin
focusing on the coming duel with Djokovic, which is like no other test in the sport.
“It’s a mental preparation
where you want to go to war,” Medvedev said.
Djokovic is rarely in better
form than during a Grand Slam final, especially lately. He is about to play his
fourth this year and has already won two.
“Grand Slams are the biggest
goals and objectives that I have,” he said Friday evening. “I set my schedule
so that I could perform at my best in these tournaments, and that’s what
happened again this year.”
To clinch the final, Djokovic
had to get past Ben Shelton, a 20-year-old Floridian thunderbolt. Like Alcaraz,
every time Shelton took the court at this U.S. Open, he put on one of its most
entertaining shows.
He was a racket-waving
highlight reel once more against Djokovic, playing the kind of tennis that
could make every American fan pay homage to the spirit of “Big” Bill Tilden or
whatever magical force led Shelton to pursue tennis instead of football as he became
a teenager.
That second serve of 143
miles per hour, and the frightening forehand the kid ripped across the court.
The athleticism he showed floating back to turn solid lobs into fearless,
rocking overhands. Those arms rippling out of his sleeveless shirt, and the
spirit, too, the way he yelled out an exuberant “yeah!” like a kid on the
playground every time he snatched a big point. And that touch on the drop
volleys, that land and spin back toward the net
Unfortunately for Shelton,
the scoring system in tennis offers no style points, and in Djokovic, he faced
not only a 23-time Grand Slam
winner and the greatest
player of the modern era but also the ultimate practitioner of tennis tai chi. For
years, and never more than in his latest stretch of dominance, the 36-year-old
Djokovic has been turning the power and style of the flashiest and most
powerful challengers against the
Playing in a record 47th
Grand Slam semifinal, Djokovic executed the sort of tactical deconstruction of
Shelton that has crushed the dreams and good vibes and flash that so many
younger players have come at him with before. Without using an ounce more
energy than necessary, Djokovic took apart the young man with the sculpted
arms, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4), in just over two and a half hours.
For most of the afternoon, he
caught up with Shelton’s drop shots from the back of the court like a cheetah
chasing his lunch and picked off the missiles on Shelton’s serve like he was
catching butterflies in a field on a late summer afternoon. When it ended with
Shelton whipping a forehand into the net, Djokovic even stole Shelton’s much-talked-about post-match celebration — miming a phone at his ear and then slamming it down before giving the young lad an icy handshake
Shelton saw Djokovic’s mimic
later on video after he left the court. He doesn’t much care for people telling
him how to celebrate, he said.
“I think if you win the
match, you deserve to do whatever you want,” said Shelton, who gave Djokovic a
glare as he approached the net. “As a kid growing up, I always learned that
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so that’s all I have to say about
that.”
Djokovic, who spoke about the
celebration after Shelton, said with a wry smile, “I just love Ben’s
celebration. I thought it was very original, and I copied him.”
Understand now, that Djokovic
appreciates flashy tennis highlights as much as anyone. Taking the court for
the third set holding a nearly insurmountable — against him — two-set lead, he
swung just about as hard as he could and watched Shelton feather a drop volley.
Djokovic gave the moment the racket clap it deserved. Lovely play, young man.
Minutes later he cruised into the court and rolled a passing shot to break
Shelton’s serve and spirit once more.
Djokovic did all this in
front of a crowd of nearly 24,000 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium revved up for a
high-octane brawl. With thunderstorms in the area, the roof was closed, and
every time Shelton put together one of his displays of power and touch and
speed and athleticism and came away with the point, the blast of the roars was
something that felt like you could reach out and touch.
That was never more true than when
Shelton trailed 2-4 in the third set, desperately trying to extend the match.
He found himself with a point to break Djokovic’s serve and did not disappoint,
drawing Djokovic into a wide forehand that generated a brain-rattling sound.
Two games later, amid Djokovic’s only error-strewn and poor-serving lull of the
day (it happens), he held a breakpoint and all the good vibes.
And then once more, Djokovic
stifled the moment with his trademark efficiency — a 124 m.p.h. serve out wide
that Shelton could not handle. The order had been restored.
There was still a little more
Shelton and Djokovic for the packed stadium to enjoy. Shelton saved a match point
and sent the third set to a tiebreaker, then stuck around a bit when he went
down, 5-1. But Djokovic had things to do and a rightful place in his 36th Grand
Slam final. When he clinched it, it was his turn to bask in the noise — and
hang up the phone — just as he expected it would be.
“I know how much work and
dedication and energy I put into trying to be in this position, so I know that
I deserve this,” he said. “I always believe in myself, in my own capabilities,
you know, in my skills, in my quality as a tennis player to be able to deliver
when it matters.”
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