Daniil Medvedev ends Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam quest with a rout in the U.S. Open final

Those alarm bells from earlier might be ringing just a bit now. Djokovic looks — improbably — physically overmatched by Medvedev, perhaps the result of spending an extra five hours on court throughout his U.S. Open. Medvedev is chasing down every shot and coming up with winners while Djokovic has yet to break his younger opponent. This is getting away from him quickly.

What a set. Medvedev was so steady in the rallies, making Djokovic hit one more shot and forcing the error, and came up with huge first serves seemingly whenever he needed them. Djokovic is a master of resetting and has no problem coming back from two sets down, but he looked frustrated — earning a code violation after smashing his racket — and at times tired while Medvedev displayed his full complement of shots.

Well that was an eventful few games! Medvedev won a 27-shot rally and fended off a couple of break points to keep things even at 2-2 as Djokovic let off some steam with a massive racket smash that separated the frame. Maybe a release of some nerves and frustration is going to be just what he needed.

Medvedev then earned a gigantic break with more solid, lengthy rallies.

The star-studded crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium — including Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Gayle King, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Spike Lee and Alec Baldwin — feels to be living and dying with each point. The atmosphere feels intense.

That didn’t take long, but then again, Novak Djokovic is used to playing from behind. Daniil Medvedev converted an early break to give himself a nice start against the Serb, closing the final game out with a pair of aces, but it’s a long haul to beat Djokovic in five (Medvedev should know, he’s never done it).

The thing to remember here is it’s early. Far too many players have tricked themselves into getting comfortable after early leads in five-set matches against veterans. The important thing for Medvedev to keep his level exactly that high while Djokovic will, almost undoubtedly, raise his own.

How often have we seen Novak Djokovic double fault in a major final? Even for a player who has dropped the first set in each of his past four matches, that was a bit of a shaky start from the 20-time Grand Slam champion. No one’s better at righting himself mid-match than Djokovic (and one little break isn’t anything monumental) so there is certainly no reason for alarm, but perhaps this tells us that the Serb is feeling the weight of the moment.

Even so, he closed out the third game with a nice ace.

Because tournament organizers have a proper sense of occasion, Australian legend Rod Laver will be on hand at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday to award the U.S. Open trophy, in what could be a symbolic handoff.

Laver is the last man to complete the Grand Slam, but even if Novak Djokovic pulls off the feat against Daniil Medvedev, he’ll still have one over the Serbian champion — Laver won all four majors in a calendar year not just once, but twice: in 1969 as a professional and in 1962 as an amateur.

Others in the ultraexclusive club are Don Budge (1938), Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf, who went a step further and also won the Olympics in 1988 to introduce what’s called the Golden Slam.

Sunday’s championship is a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final in which Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev in a tidy, three-set match. But with a Grand Slam on the line and Medvedev’s recent hot streak to bolster his confidence, Sunday could be a different story.

Medvedev enters the U.S. Open final having won 14 of his last 15 matches and has a fairly solid history against the Serbian champion — or, about as solid as one can have against Djokovic if your name isn’t Nadal or Federer — to lean on. The Russian has never beaten Djokovic in a best-of-five set match but he has bested him three times in best-of-three set bouts. And Medvedev is never better than when he’s on hard court.

It’s no surprise that top-seeded Novak Djokovic and second-seeded Daniil Medvedev are the last men standing in New York. Medvedev, a lanky 25-year-old Russian, has rocketed up the rankings since his incredible run in the summer of 2019 that culminated in a thriller of a five-set U.S. Open final against Rafael Nadal, and sits squarely in the group of young contenders who appear poised to lead men’s tennis whenever Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic finally relinquish their hold on the game.

The No. 2 player in the world dropped just one set during his two weeks at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarterfinals. Otherwise, Medvedev sailed through his matches and took down two seeded players along the way: No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime in a straightforward semifinal win and No. 24 Dan Evans in the fourth round.