“I don’t think I played my best today,” Daniil Medvedev said. “But I am happy to be in the final on Sunday.”
Maybe a little more than happy.
Medvedev is back for another crack at a U.S. Open title. The Open’s second seed powered his way past Felix Auger-Aliasimme in the day semifinal at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, and he will face the winner of the night match between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev for the title.
In the 2019 Open Medvedev made his first appearance in any Grand Slam final in a loss to Rafael Nadal. He came back from two sets down to take it to the deciding fifth. He earned the respect of the New York crowd after earlier in the tournament earning their wrath for some on-court antics. Boos rained down on him, and he invited them, telling the fans it only inspired him to do better.
Now it’s 2021, and while Medvedev isn’t exactly the fans’ darling, he still has their respect and was warmly cheered after his win, which turned out to be a fairly routine one. After winning a close first set and being down a break in the second, Medvedev roared back for a 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory. Medvedev has lost only one set in six matches and plays with a pleasing economy of effort.
The match turned on Auger-Aliassime’s serve in the ninth game of the second set. He had broken Medvedev and was up 5-3 and holding a set point. But Medvedev’s tough backhand forced an error. Aliassime got a second set point, but he couldn’t convert a volley. Medvedev won the next two points for the break, then won the next three games to take the set. The third set was a mere formality.
“The second set defined the match because I was really close to lose it,” Medvedev said. “Many times you’re going to lose a break against such an opponent as Felix, he had set points on his serve, you’re going to lose a set. We can never know now how the match would go. Could be completely different story, being one set all, would be the first time for me in the tournament.”
If Djokovic could get past Zverev to make the final, he would be on the edge of history, going for the calendar year Grand Slam last achieved by Rod Laver in 1969. The Aussie legend was in the stands for the semifinals and was given a standing ‘O’ by the crowd in the Medvedev match.
Djokovic’s run for the Grand Slam started at the Australian Open, where he beat Medvedev in the final, the Russian’s second final appearance in a major. Djokovic dusted him off in three sets.
Medvedev’s serve has been clicking with great efficiency at this Open and Friday he won 81% of his first serve points, a percentage that was just too good for Auger-Aliassime, the Canadian who was making his first Slam semifinal appearance.
“I thought he served amazing, I mean, the whole match, but especially in the first set,” Aliassime said. “I didn’t get even to 30 I think.”
He did, once, in the final game of the set that Medvedev closed out. Medvedev won all five of the break points he held in the match. That turned out to be a backbreaker.
