Athletistic / Tennis. The 2021 tennis season, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, went on almost as usual (with the exception of tournaments in Southeast and East Asia). The dates of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, which was held in Melbourne not in the second half of January, but towards the end of February, echo this time. But Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open were played on schedule.

In the final of the Australian Open 2021 in the men’s singles, the world number one, Serbian Novak Djokovic, and the number four in the ATP ranking, Russian Daniil Medvedev, met. If Novak was aiming for his 18th victory at the TBS and the 9th in Melbourne, then Daniil reached the final of a major tournament for the second time (the first ended with the defeat of the Russian Rafael Nadal at the US Open in 2019) and did it. this for the first time on the green continent. Unfortunately, Medvedev’s second pancake turned out to be lumpy: in the decisive match of the Australian Open, the Russian lost to Djokovic in three sets with a score of 5:7, 2:6, 2:6.

The victory in Australia has given Novak a boost for a phenomenal season, the crowning glory of which could be a seasonal “Slam”. The Serb managed to prevail at Roland Garros, eliminating the king of clay, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, from the tournament in the semi-finals (3:6, 6:3, 7:6, 6:2) and in the final, breaking the resistance of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (6:7, 2:6, 6:3, 6:2, 6:4). Three weeks later, at Wimbledon, in the final, Novak defeated the Italian Meteo Berrettini (6:7, 6:4, 6:4, 6:3). Djokovic was closer than ever to a seasonal Grand Slam – for that, he had to win the US Open.

The last Grand Slam tournament of 2021 was held in New York from August 30 to September 12. At that time, Djokovic was a confident leader in the ATP rankings and could count on a successful draw. Perhaps this same fate was favorable to the legendary Serb, but Novak’s path through the grid was thorny and confusing. In the first round, Djokovic’s opponent was the Dane Holger Rune, who managed to take a set from the Serb (6:1, 6:7, 6:2, 6:1). Then, in the first week of the tournament in New York, Novak’s opponents were the Dutchman Tallon Grixpor (6:2, 6:3, 6:2), the Japanese Kei Nishikori (6:7, 6:3, 6:3 , 6:2 ) and the American Jenson Brooksby (1:6, 6:3, 6:2, 6:2). Even here, it is clear that Novak was far from ideal and let himself lose some of the strength so necessary for the decisive stages of the tournament.

Photo source: US Open

In the quarterfinals of the US Open, Djokovic’s opponent was Mateo Berrettini: the match turned out to be almost a repeat of the Wimbledon final – 5:7, 6:2, 6:2, 6:3 in favor of the Serb. And in the semifinals, Novak had to take revenge on the German Alexander Zverev. The fact is that in 2021, the 2020 Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo (Japan), where Zverev sensationally defeated Djokovic in the semifinals, and then, after defeating the Russian Karen Khachanov in the final, became the Olympic champion.

The defeat in Tokyo greatly shook Djokovic’s self-confidence: it seemed then that the Serb had lost his last chance to become an Olympic champion. Therefore, the match with Zverev was difficult for him not only from a sporting point of view, but also from a psychological point of view. Novak entered the match very difficult and lost the first set at the US Open again – 4:6. However, this only benefited him, because in the next two games Djokovic created magic on the court and simply rolled Zverev on the hard court – 6:2, 6:4. Nothing in the game indicated that the German could return to the game, but in reality it turned out that the tennis players had to determine the winner in the decisive fifth game. If the Serb lost the fourth set of the match with a score of 4:6, then in the fifth game he again turned on a speed inaccessible to his opponent and closed the question of the winner in his favor – 6:2. Before the Grand Slam of the season, Djokovic had to overcome the final stage.

In the final, Novak was to meet Daniil Medvedev. The Russian was having his best season on the ATP Tour at that time and arrived in New York as the second racket in the world. Medvedev had already reached the final of the US Open and knew how to distribute his strength well in this tournament. Danya was so focused and strong that he only lost one set before the final of the US Open. In the first week of competition, he alternately defeated the Frenchman Richard Gasquet (6:4, 6:3, 6:1), the German Dominik Köpfer (6:4, 6:1, 6:2), the Spaniard Pablo Andujar (6:0, 6:4, 6:3), as well as the British Daniel Evans (6:3, 6:4, 6:3).

In the quarterfinals, Medvedev stumbled for the first time, allowing Dutchman Botik van de Zandshulp, who had started his performance at the US Open 2021 in qualifying, to take a set back from him: 6:3, 6:0, 4:6, 7:5. But in the semifinals, Daniil did not waste his strength and emotions and closed the confrontation with Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime in three sets – 6:4, 7:5, 6:2.

Photo source: US Open

There is a notable difference between Djokovic’s and Medvedev’s path to the final. While the Russian made almost no extra effort and was lucky, the Serb had to try hard not to stumble in the early stages of the tournament and then beat the man who deprived him of his Olympic dream. This fact could not but affect the course of the final.

Before the start of the match, the whole world of sports (not only tennis) was boiling and talking exclusively about the upcoming event – Djokovic should become the owner of a seasonal “Slam” for the first time in 52 years. Before him, in the open era, only Australian Rod Laver achieved this, becoming the winner of all four major tournaments in 1969. After that, neither Mats Wilander, nor Pete Sampras, nor Roger Federer, nor Rafael Nadal reached this peak. On the one hand, this gave Djokovic additional motivation, on the other hand, it put even more pressure on the Serb.

The final took place on September 12, and the broadcast ratings for this match were among the highest in the 21st century. People were waiting for a concert and a vacation – and they got it. In the first set, Medvedev played at an absolutely phenomenal level. Danya was so good that he allowed Djokovic to take only three points on someone else’s serve throughout the match. As a result, the first match ended with the 10th game – 6:4 in favor of the Russian.

For Djokovic, losing the first set was certainly not a disaster, because in 2021 in New York, he started the match with a set loss for the fifth time. Then everyone waited for the next reincarnation of the Serb. In fact, this is exactly what happened, but even this did not help Novak. In the first game on Medvedev’s serve in the second set, Djokovic led with a score of 0-40, but managed to waste a triple break point and allowed his opponent to take his serve. A striking element of this match was Novak’s reaction, who, after losing in one of the exchanges, broke his racket, hitting it three times on the court.

Then the opponents almost took turns to take each other’s serves, until in the fifth game the Russian took advantage of Djokovic’s mistakes and made the most important break. Until the end of the second game, Medvedev gave his opponent only two balls on his serve and again closed the set with a score of 6:4. Danya was one step away from his first victory in the Grand Slam tournaments.

The third set began according to a scenario that few could have expected: Daniil Medvedev led with a score of 4:0, breaking his opponent’s serve twice. With the score at 5:2, the Russian went to serve for the match, won a championship point, but eventually allowed Djokovic to break in the match. In the next game, the Russian did not put much pressure on the Serb’s serve, deciding to close all questions in the 10th game of the third set on his own serve. And so it happened: on the third match point, Daniil Medvedev became the winner of the US Open final – 2021!

Photo source: US Open

Interestingly, before the last match, Novak Djokovic could not hold back his tears. He still feels the nerve of the game and even then, he perfectly understood that he had missed his best chance of his career to repeat Rod Laver’s historic feat.

— I apologize to Novak Djokovic and his fans. We all know exactly what he wanted to accomplish tonight. I never told anyone, but for me, Novak is the greatest tennis player in history. Now, I would like to thank my team, my family and my friends. I thank you all for your help on this difficult path! Thank you to the fans, even if you probably supported Novak more today“, Medvedev said at a ceremony on the field.

Daniil Medvedev became the first Russian since 2006 to win the US Open (15 years before him, this tournament was won by Maria Sharapova). At that time, the 25-year-old Russian was only the fourth Russian winner of the US Open and the sixth Grand Slam winner in total (regardless of gender). In men’s singles, a representative of Russia had celebrated his victory at the US Open only once – in 2000, Marat Safin defeated the legendary American Pete Sampras in three sets and became our pioneer.

Unfortunately, to this day, this victory remains the only one in Medvedev’s career in the Grand Slam tournaments. After this failure, Novak Djokovic will win four more major tournaments, including the US Open 2023. But the Serb will not be able to defend his victory from last year in New York, because last night he sensationally lost to Australian Alexei Popyrin (4:6, 4:6, 6:2, 4:6). Maybe Dani now has a better chance of repeating his success from three years ago?!

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic