Daniil Medvedev promised to leave it all on the court. He was as good as his word. He departed the Arthur Ashe Stadium having executed his game plan almost to perfection. He left having shaken off the late nerves that twice undid him as he double-faulted on match point. He bade farewell to the prospect of becoming only the sixth player in the open era to lose his first three major finals. He left behind a crushed and tearful Novak Djokovic, who lost his grip on his grand slam dream but won the love of the New York crowd. The one thing he didn’t leave behind was the US Open trophy, the Russian world No 2 prevailing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to claim his first major title.
Medvedev had vowed to improve on his performance against Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open final, where he smashed a racket in fury as he slipped to a straight-sets defeat. Yet he can hardly have envisaged a turnaround so complete that Djokovic would be reduced to an identical act of enraged frustration. The Russian was a picture of relentless focus, delivering a serving masterclass and dominating with his patient baseline play and passing shots to capitalise on a physically and emotionally subdued performance from the world No 1.
“I had a clear plan which did seem to work,” said Medvedev, who nullified Djokovic’s return game by going for broke on his second serve. “Was he at his best? Maybe not today. He had a lot of pressure. I had a lot of pressure, too, about the risk on the second serve, it was because of the confidence I had. I knew I cannot give him easy serves because that’s what he likes. So that was the plan.”
It has been a season for the ages from Djokovic, but after 27 grand slam victories he fell one win short of becoming only the third man in history to complete a clean sweep of all four majors in the same calendar year. The Serb, who recovered from a set down in four of his six matches en route to the final, a show of resilience not seen at a major since 1889, had spent five hours and 35 minutes longer than Medvedev on court.
Djokovic has bounced back from so many gruelling struggles over the years that we have almost come to expect it, but for once things seemed to catch up with the 34-year-old. He has been carrying the weight of history on his shoulders ever since winning Wimbledon in July, and ultimately the cumulative mental and emotional toll of that burden, and of his epic semi-final tussle with Alexander Zverev, proved too much to overcome against an opponent nine years his junior and in the form of his life.
“He was hitting his spots very well,” said Djokovic. “He came out very determined on the court. You could feel that he was just at the highest of his abilities in every shot. He had a lot of clarity what he needed to do tactically. He executed it perfectly.
“On the other hand, I was just below par with my game. My legs were not there. I was trying. I did my best. I made a lot of unforced errors. I had no serve really. If you’re playing someone like Medvedev, who hits his spots so well, just aces, gets a lot of free points on his first serve, you’re constantly feeling pressure on your service games.”
By the end, it was Medvedev who was feeling the greater pressure on serve. He had not been broken once as he stepped up to serve for the title at 5-2 in the third set, but having raced through the game to reach match point at 40-30, and with the crowd going wild, he hesitated to let the noise subside. The delay did the Russian no favours, a 120mph second serve crashing into the net before a second double fault and a missed forehand cost him the game. Djokovic held, at which point the crowd began cheering wildly for the Serb and chanting his name. Djokovic, who has so longed to be embraced by the public, was visibly moved by the display of support. “Tonight, even though I have not won the match, my heart is filled with joy and I’m the happiest man alive, because you guys made me feel very special on court,” he said in an emotional on-court speech afterwards.
“What I said in the ceremony, I really mean it,” Djokovic later elaborated. “Of course, part of me is very sad. It’s a tough one to swallow, this loss, considering everything that was on the line. But on the other hand, I felt something I never felt in my life here in New York. The crowd made me very special.
“The amount of support and energy and love I got from the crowd was something that I’ll remember forever. That’s the reason, on the changeover, I just teared up. The emotion, the energy was so strong.”
Such energy was sorely lacking in Djokovic’s play. Having gifted Medvedev a break with a succession of unforced errors in the opening game, the top seed was forced to recover from 15-40 down in his next service game, hitting two aces in succession to hold. By way of contrast, Medvedev quickly settled into his rhythm, racing through his service games in clinical fashion as he won every point played on his first delivery. He sealed the set with his eighth ace, a tally he would go on to double by end of the contest.
Whether it was to save his legs or part of a wider tactical plan, Djokovic repeatedly approached the net. But his success in the forecourt, where he won 66% of his 47 forays, could not disguise his inability to live with Medvedev from the back of the court. There was little of the imperious baseline play that punctuated the Serb’s win over Zverev, and when he pounded his legs in frustration after failing to convert three break points early in the second set, it was clear all was not well.
Djokovic saved a break point to hold for 2-1, but his exasperation was growing and, in the next game, it boiled over. Having earned his first break point of the contest, a noise came over the stadium sound system mid-rally, forcing the point to be replayed. Medvedev averted the danger with a drop volley that Djokovic ran down but failed to get back in play, and in his anger the Serb shaped up to leather the loose ball with a ball-girl in close proximity. It was a moment that called to mind the events of last year, when Djokovic was defaulted for accidentally hitting a linesperson in the throat with a ball. Thankfully there was no repeat, Djokovic pulling away from the ball, but an explosion was nearing and it came when Medvedev denied him a second break point, the top seed obliterating his racket. Djokovic later identified the missed opportunities as a turning point.
“I do feel sorry for Novak, because I cannot imagine what he feels,” said Medvedev. “I don’t know this feeling. It definitely makes it sweeter. I mean, a grand slam is a grand slam. I would win it against Botic in the final, probably I would be same happy.
“For the confidence and for my future career, knowing that I beat somebody who was 27-0 in a year in grand slams, I lost to him in Australia, he was going for huge history, and knowing that I managed to stop him, it definitely makes it sweeter and brings me confidence for what is to come.”