Daniil Medvedev has ended Novak Djokovic’s successful run at the US Open by presenting a stunning performance and defeating the world no 1.
It was Djokovic’s goal to become the only third tennis player to win all four major titles in the same season after Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969).
Novak Djokovic had the biggest opportunity to move ahead of his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by winning the 21st Slam singles title.
Medvedev puts an end to this winning streak with an excellent performance of 6-4 6-4 6-4 and winning the US Open.
Medvedev said, “First of all I want to say sorry for you fans and Novak because we all know what he was going for today and I just want to say what you have accomplished this year and throughout your career – I never said this to anybody but I’ll say it right now, for me you are the greatest tennis player in history.”
“I want to thank my team. It’s not an easy journey to win a Slam but I’m really thankful to you for helping me throughout the journey.”
Addressing the crowd, the Russian added, “Then I want to thank you, guys. Today you were maybe a little bit more for Novak but that’s completely understandable. Throughout the week you gave me a lot of energy. It helped me through today. It was not easy but thanks a lot.”
“Last but not least, I want to finish my speech on a very sweet note. It’s the third anniversary for me and my wife today and during the tournament, I couldn’t think of a present or anything. When I won, the only thing I thought was if I lose, I have no time to find a present so I have to win this match. I love you, Dasha.”
Although Djokovic defeated Medvedev in the Australian Open final in February. Medvedev did not show the same clinical mistakes he made against Djokovic in February and lead all the sets with confidence.
Medvedev was playing his third Grand Slam Open finals and was victorious for the very first time. It felt as if Djokovic was compromising on something as he was not on his top performance be it both physically or mentally. This was realized after he broke his racquet in the fourth game of the second set.