11th consecutive victory, first grand slam semifinal and apologies to fans: how Medvedev defeated Wawrinka at the US Open

11th win in a row

Daniil Medvedev continues to rewrite history. Moreover, both your personal and Russian tennis in general. In the quarter-finals of the US Open, he defeated Stan Wavrinka and not only extended his unbeaten run to 11 meetings, but for the first time in his career managed to break into the top four in the Grand Slam tournament. In addition, this victory was for the Muscovite 19th in 21 matches in the last 35 days. No other tennis player for the same time period can not boast of such impressive statistics.

The duel with the eminent Swiss Medvedev began quite confidently, immediately making a break. But this did not save him from problems. On his pitch, the Russian looked very uncertain and constantly allowed his opponent to impose a fight on himself. The double mistakes that poured from the cornucopia did not contribute to the solution of the problems - only according to the results of the first batch of them there were already nine in passive from Daniel. Nevertheless, not even being able to file for the set with a score of 5: 4 in his favor and allowing Wavrinka to lead 6: 5 and 30: 0, and then turn 2: 5 into 6: 5 on a tie-break, he stood up and led in the match.

In the second installment, Medvedev looked better on his head and naturally developed success. He did not allow the Swiss, who stopped Novak Djokovic two days ago, to earn a single break point. A repeatedly reduced number of optional marriages testified to the fact that the favorite picked up the keys to an unyielding and renowned for his psychological stability opponent.

If not for the relaxation at the beginning of the third set, it is possible that everything would end much faster. But Daniel almost immediately gave his pitch and did not even have a theoretical chance to return it. It was not possible to do this in the ninth game, although Stan provided the Russians with four opportunities to make a break without simultaneously using two setballs.

However, this chord turned out to be not saving for Wawrinka. In the fourth installment, he resembled a pale shadow of himself and showed almost no resistance.

Medvedev won 27 of 39 raffles, scored two breaks, filed right away in the decisive game a couple of times, and first played shortened on the matchball without intelligence and then threw the “candle” through the opponent who went to the net - 7: 6 (8: 6), 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 1. As it became known later, the Russian performed all this, continuing to experience malaise.

“We all saw that the game was strange. My hip hurt again very much, I even thought that I could not continue. In fact, I felt great before the match, but the problems started already in the first set. Then I had to take a painkiller, and it took time for it to work. Of course, in this situation, Stan began to play differently, because he did not understand what was happening to me. But I am glad that I am continuing my journey. Let's see how I feel tomorrow. I hope that there will be enough strength and I will be able to show my maximum, ”the triumphant admitted.

Medvedev became the first Russian tennis player since 2010, who managed to reach both the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament in general and the US Open in particular. It is noteworthy that then Mikhail Yuzhny also stopped Wavrinka in the quarter-finals, although he spent five games on this.

In an express interview on the court, Daniel also did not go around the topic of his difficult relationship with local fans. When asked how he relates to them after another victory, the Muscovite for the first time refused branded jokes. “I have two words: electric and incomprehensible. Someone supports me, some do not, and this balance is constantly changing. So now I would say this: I apologize, guys, and thank you! ”- found Medvedev, who received applause.

Defeat Federer

Grigor Dimitrov also received a standing ovation, stopping in another five sets another Swiss - the legendary Roger Federer. The first and third parties were left to the 20-time winner of the TBS, who a month ago celebrated his 38th birthday. The second and fourth set - for his opponent, in the decisive game, the Bulgarian took advantage of the fact that the favorite was tired and began to make mistakes in simple situations (Roger made 65 unforced misses during the match, 32 of them in two final sets).

The ex-first racket of the world lost 16 of 17 draws at the reception, and earned the only point thanks to a double error vis-a-vis

“I should have called a doctor before the start of the fifth set. I needed help with my upper back and neck. It was necessary to relax her to get a little better. In any case, the result is logical, it was made by Grigor, and not my body, I am not going to look for excuses. I’m upset that the tournament is over for me. Everything could have turned out differently. I missed the opportunity to continue my journey, although I led in this match. If he won, then there was a whole two days to rest. But you need to be able to accept defeat. This is part of the game. Now I’ll be happy to spend my free time with my family, ”Federer commented on his failure.

As for Dimitrov, for him the semi-final with Medvedev will also be the first in his career at the US Open. Before, the Bulgarian reached the similar stages only at Wimbledon in 2014 and the Australian Open in 2017.

Svitolina's Achievement

Elina Svitolina had never before passed the US Open beyond the fourth round. In 2017, at this stage, the American Madison Keys blocked her path, and in 2018, Anastasia Sevastova from Latvia (both in three games). This time, the Ukrainian took into account the mistakes of past years and the second time in her career reached the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament. Following the three mistresses of the tournament and compatriot Dayana Yastremskaya, British Johanna Conta capitulated to her.

Despite the fact that the fifth seeded had two sets to reach the semifinals, this victory can not be called easy. The rival surpassed Svitolina in the accuracy of the first serve (64% against 57%) and actively won points (24-16), but this was not enough, given the almost three-fold superiority in the number of unforced errors - 35. In addition, Comte allowed her opponent to take her serve four times . Moreover, in both parties, Johanna gave the fifth and seventh games as a carbon copy, but at the same time she took the sixth.

As for the Ukrainian, thanks to her fifth consecutive victory in New York, she secured herself at least third place in the updated WTA ranking. If Elina does not slow down and win the two remaining matches, then she will become the second in the ranking table at all.

Smash from Williams

Ukraine’s rival in the semifinals will be Serena Williams. Paving the way to its 24th TBS title, the American did not leave a stone unturned by Wang Qiang. It’s enough to mention that for the first time the Chinese woman who got to the second week of the tournament won only 15 goals out of 75 for the entire match, and in the middle of the second game she managed to give 11 points in a row, and also allowed the opponent to realize each of the five break points - 6: 1, 6: 0.