Novak Djokovic had no chance against Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final. But the fact that he burst into tears immediately before the defeat had nothing to do with his performance.
Novak Djokovic suffered probably the most painful defeat of his career and surprisingly missed out on winning the historic US Open title. The 34-year-old Serb lost to world number one Daniil Medvedev of Russia 4-6, 4-6, 4-6 in the final on Sunday (local time) without a chance and missed out on a great opportunity to win his first Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.
“If anyone deserves the title, it’s you,” Djokovic told Medvedev, thanking the fans for their vociferous support. Even during the match, he cried tears of emotion: “Even though I didn’t win the match, I’m the happiest person in the world, you guys touched my soul.” Medvedev was immensely happy about his success, but also paid homage to Djokovic: “For me, you are the greatest tennis player in history.”
Djokovic had won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon all together and now missed the first perfect major year in 52 years at the very last step. He also failed to achieve his goal of becoming the sole record Grand Slam champion ahead of Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Rafael Nadal (Spain). All three stars still stand at 20 titles in the four most important tournaments of the year.
Medvedev’s FIFA cheer: “I hurt myself a bit “
Medvedev (25), on the other hand, celebrated his greatest success in an unusual way. After converting the match ball, he dropped onto his side and lay there with his mouth wide open. “I like to play FIFA. I like to play Playstation. It’s called dead fish cheering,” he explained afterwards. “Everyone I saw playing FIFA thought that was legendary. That’s how I wanted to do it.” Falling down on the hard court was not so easy, he said. “I hurt myself a little bit. But I’m happy I made it legendary for me.”
After Djokovic’s semi-final win over German number one Alex Zverev at the latest, there was only one topic of discussion before the men’s final: Will Djokovic seize the historic opportunity? He himself tried to keep the discussions away from himself as best he could. “I want to keep all the energy for the match,” he said and threw himself into the match, which was watched by icon Laver, but also Hollywood stars like Brad Pitt or Bradley Cooper from the stands.
Djokovic loses the first set – again
But Djokovic immediately felt that Medvedev had not come just to congratulate him and immediately conceded a break. The Russian put the favourite under pressure with a strong serve ratio and his power from the baseline and won the first set. This was the fifth time in a row that Djokovic had dropped the first set in the tournament, but before that he had always managed a perfect reaction. And he was now in full force, also earning break point after break point with net attacks, but could not take advantage of them and let out his frustration on the racket.
Medvedev continued unperturbed, snatched Djokovic’s service for 3:2 and the Serb could not hold on in the set either. On set point, Djokovic made a slight error – and now had his back to the wall.
The tour dominator continued to commit many easy errors. Medvedev, on the other hand, was fully in his zone. But when he had the chance to win the tournament, the Russian’s hand shook. Djokovic was whipped forward again by the crowd and took the support emotionally touched. But Medvedev could no longer be dissuaded from his great triumph and destroyed Djokovic’s dream of the Grand Slam.
