Final against Djokovic: Medvedev dethrones Alcaraz!

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Daniil Medvedev dethroned defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the US Open, sparking the Spaniard’s titanic clash with Novak Djokovic. Medvedev triumphed after an impressive performance of 7: 6 (7: 3), 6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 3 against the still number one in the world and now plays against Grand Slam record winner Djokovic for his second title in Flushing Meadows after 2021.

“Beating a player like Carlos is great, he is number one for a reason. I knew that in terms of level I had to play 11 out of 10 to succeed today – and I played 12 out of 10,” Medvedev said over the stadium microphone: “But against Novak should be even better.”

Djokovic previously won 6: 3, 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 4) against the youngster Ben Shelton from the USA and will play major titles in sight on Sunday (10 p.m. CEST/Sportdeutschland. TV). The Serbian, who now has a chance for revenge for the final he lost to Medvedev two years ago, will replace Alcaraz as number one after the tournament. Last year, Djokovic could not participate in New York due to a lack of corona vaccination.

Alcaraz made small mistakes

Medvedev (27), who made up for the clear defeat against Alcaraz, seven years his junior, in the Wimbledon semi-finals, converted his fourth match point after 3:18 hours of the best tournament match. Alcaraz, who had clearly defeated the ailing Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals, missed the opportunity to become the youngest two-time champion of the US Open

After a nervous start, the match quickly gained momentum, with both showing inspiring tennis in the decisive phase of the first set. Alcaraz played sensational stops, but made small mistakes in the tiebreak. After losing the set, the Spaniard seemed knocked out, losing his first service game in the second round and suffering a second break at the decisive 1:5 against the now unleashed Medvedev.

Alcaraz, who had never recovered from a 0:2 set deficit in his young career, fought his way back into the match, breaking for the first time in the match to make it 3:1 – suddenly the old certainty was back and winning the set, such was the belief in one Comeback. In the fourth round, Alcaraz missed three breakballs at 1: 1, which took revenge: Medvedev took over the favorite’s serve to make it 4: 2 – and there was suddenly silence among the 23,000 spectators in the world’s largest tennis stadium.

Medvedev served at 5:3 to win, but the service game turned wild: Medvedev fended off three break balls, he missed three match points, the first with a double fault. But with a show of strength, Medvedev fought his way to the finish.

(AFP)

Source : Blick