With Rafael Nadal nursing a foot injury and Roger Federer preparing for a third bout of knee surgery that could bring the curtain down on his career once and for all, the challenge of thwarting Novak Djokovic’s seemingly inexorable march to the grand slam looks increasingly likely to fall on the slight shoulders of Daniil Medvedev. The Russian, a finalist at Flushing Meadows two years ago, looks as well equipped as anyone to take on that thankless task. Having spent much of his summer giving the lie to those who said he couldn’t play on clay or grass, Medvedev got his North American hard court season underway in earnest with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Reilly Opelka in the final of the Toronto Masters.
It was a virtually flawless display from the world No 2. Opelka tried everything, and did very little wrong, but Medvedev had all the answers. The challenge facing the 32nd-ranked Opelka was apparent from the outset. When he thundered down his 140mph-plus serves and stayed back, he was frequently outrallied; when he came in behind slower, kicked deliveries, he was frequently passed. When the American tried a different tack, moving forward behind the forehand instead of his serve, the result was the same, the man from Michigan skewered by the lethal precision of his opponent’s passing shots.
Medvedev, who set up camp even deeper behind the baseline than normal, returned with a venom and consistency entirely alien to his big-serving opponent. Opelka is not used to seeing his huge bombs returned consistently, let alone with interest. Medvedev, who had got his eye in against another player in the Opelka mould with his emphatic semi-victory over John Isner, made just 13 unforced errors, his steadiness from the back forcing the American to press ever harder. The pressure on his opponent was incessant and intolerable. Opelka, who made 34 unforced errors in all, had held his serve throughout three long sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas; here, the first of three dropped service games came as early as the fifth game.
By then, Opelka’s best chance of making a match of it had come and gone. He held three consecutive break points in the fourth game, but hammered a forehand into the net on the first, was denied by a deep first serve on the second, and pushed a forehand long on the third. Three minutes later, he was behind, Medvedev capitalising on a double fault and an errant forehand with a backhand pass of pinpoint accuracy. It was all Medvedev needed to seal the set and the Russian soon extended his lead, an Opelka double fault handing him an early break in the second set. Poor decision-making cost the American a chance to get back on level terms in the sixth game, Opelka opting for a drop shot with the court at his mercy, and from there Medvedev was always in control, his fourth Masters title never in doubt.
“When you play Reilly, I think the biggest factor is how you serve and how you return,” said Medvedev, who would displace Djokovic as world No 1 were he to win the US Open. “My serve was not on top point today. That’s why I had breakpoints to save. That’s why it was sometimes close calls on my serve. But I was very good on return. I managed to put pressure on him almost non-stop. I think he didn’t almost have maybe one or two easy games in the match. That’s what made the difference.”
For Opelka, a first appearance in a Masters 1000 final offers further evidence of progress as well as the comfort of an improved ranking that will earn him a seeding at the US Open. He was sanguine in defeat, recognising that there was little he could have done to alter the trajectory of the contest with Medvedev in such imperious form.
“He was flawless,” said Opelka. “I had one chance to break early. I don’t think that would have changed much because he was in so many of my service games. It was a little windy and a little bit swirlier out there on the ball, so it was really tough to be powerful and be consistently powerful. But even then, even when I hit some big shots, he countered well and it was very tough to disrupt him at all. He’s very good with his open-stance backhand, very good on the run, his passing shots are great. All expected, but he really executed well.”