For the first time in 14 years: Medvedev made it to the US Open finals and will meet with Nadal

Medvedev's exit to the finals

At the current US Open, Daniil Medvedev seems to be rewarded for the heavy schedule and two losses in the finals that preceded this tournament. In the first week, the Russian fought except with cramps and spectators, but not with rivals, of which only Feliciano Lopez could boast fame in tennis circles.

After this, Medvedev had to endure the ordeals in the person of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, but one dropped out of the fight due to an injury, and the other lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. After defeating Stan Wavrinka, who at the same time earned Medvedev fourth place in the ATP ranking, he had to compete for the finals with an obscure Bulgarian tennis player.

Dimitrov hardly went to New York as a contender for a high result. Before the US Open, he lost seven of eight matches, and once he could not cope with the 405th racket of the world Kevin King. But the 28-year-old started from scratch in the season's final major and made it to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam for the third time in his career. True, he did not become the favorite in the match with Medvedev.

This was confirmed in the first game of their match. Dimitrov at once lost four draws on his serve, and then did not realize a double break point. Medvedev confidently controlled the game, but he also crashed in the fourth game, in which he began to make mistakes in long rallies and not reach out to long-range goals. With the exception of this episode, the Russian played to match his rival, without forcing the party.

With a score of 6: 5, Dimitrov was able to earn a setball, but Medvedev immediately played it and took the game, after which he also won a tie-break. The statistics were not on the side of the Russian tennis player - he had 18 unforced errors on seven actively won rallies. Opponent "went to minus" only one point.

This fact was supposed to give Dimitrov confidence in the second set, and the Bulgarian really began it with a break. But again after this, four unsuccessful rallies on his serve and a game lost to zero followed. Medvedev used this gift to repeat the break and lead with a score of 3: 1. True, once again there was a momentary turbidity, which this time was due to the submission of the Russian. Depriving the opponent of his advantage, Dimitrov tried to finish the game in the ninth game, but in ten minutes he could not earn a break point. Medvedev then had only one attempt to realize the setball on someone else's serve.

Of the 12 matches in which the Russian tennis player won the first two sets, 11 ended in his victory. Although at any moment the forces could leave Medvedev, the short games of the third set allowed him to stay afloat further. Dimitrov at the third hour of the game did not build tactics that would help him to achieve success on his own, without waiting for the opponent's misfires. Medvedev also managed to break in the fourth game and earned two matchballs on someone else's serve. Dimitrov played them, but could not answer. The victory in the match, which lasted two and a half hours, remained with the fifth racket of the world.

“In the first set, Dimitrov was much closer to victory. I felt bad, there was no energy. To be honest, at that moment I thought that I could not keep my level until the end of the match, that at some point Grigor would “take me”. But, having won the first set, I completely turned the tide of the fight, already played much better and deservedly reached the final, ”Medvedev said after the match.

He became the first Russian tennis player in 14 years to make it to the finals of the Grand Slam tournament. The last to achieve this success was Marat Safin at the Australian Open when he beat Lleyton Hewitt. At the same time, Medvedev secured himself getting into the ATP Final tournament - after 2009, when Nikolai Davydenko was selected, none of the Russians achieved this.

Nadal overtook Medvedev

For a long time, avoiding meetings with the Big Three, Medvedev will still play with one of its representatives. Rafael Nadal, the third racket of the world and an 18-time major winner, predictably made his way to his fifth US Open final after defeating Italian Matteo Berrettini.

Such an opponent was similar to Nadal - tall and powerfully serving tennis players sometimes cause him problems. In the first set, Berrettini was able to save every game on his pitch, even when the Spaniard was very close to “profit” break. Moreover, in the 13th game, the 24th racket of the tournament managed to lead with a score of 0: 4, and then 2: 5, but at this moment Nadal turned on the winner mode. Having played two setballs, he left the first game for himself.

If the “King of the Ground” managed to start the match in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam tournaments with the set won, then he definitely went on. These statistics did not lie 21 times and did not lie in the 22nd. With the score 4: 3, Nadal was still able to win the first serve of Berrettini, and then the Italian could only finish the meeting. From that moment on, only two more games obeyed him.

Nadal and Medvedev will hold a rematch of the tournament finals in Montreal, in which the Spanish tennis player won. Two future rivals are leaders of the ATP tour of the won fights, so it’s hard to come up with more worthy participants in the title match at the US Open.

Serena's new attempt

Serena Williams made another attempt to catch up with legendary Australian Margaret Court in the number of titles at Grand Slam tournaments. The American, who won the main tennis competitions 23 times, reached the US Open finals for the second time in a row. The goal that she pursues after her last victory at the Australian Open in 2017 was again as close as possible.

In the semifinals, Williams Jr. dealt with the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. If the previous match of the American with Wang Qiang all lasted 44 minutes, now it took her the same amount of time to win in the first set. Only two starting games took 16 minutes, but they became the key to Serena's success. She with great difficulty led 2-0 and in the future only increased her advantage. Unusually for herself, Williams often went to the net, however, this helped her to beat Svitolina in the first installment.

In the second set, the mistress of the court did not reduce the pressure. To his 33rd final of the Grand Slam tournaments, Williams was already picking up at all speeds, giving the Ukrainian tennis player only one game. On Saturday, she will have the opportunity to become the most titled tennis player at the US Open in the Open Era. Williams has won the last major of the season six times.

In the finals, the American will be a clear favorite. Her rival was the much less experienced 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu. The Canadian tennis player, who had not previously won more than one match in the Grand Slam tournaments, beat Belinda Bencic in her semifinal.

This match turned out to be much more meaningful. Andreescu and Bencic have never taken someone else's serve in the first set, although the 22-year-old Swiss had six break points. The 22-year-old tennis player was two points away from taking the game for herself, but after a couple of minutes she lost with a score of 0: 5 in a tie-break, which could not be saved.

In the second set, Bencic added and led with a break with a score of 5: 3. But the beautiful comeback did not happen. Andreescu won four games in a row, having realized one of the break points by her opponent’s double mistake. At its debut US Open, Canada immediately reached the final - the last before it was done by Venus Williams in 1997. Andreescu will meet with her younger sister, who recently refused to fight with Canada due to injury in the decisive match of the tournament in Toronto. A 19-year-old tennis player in her entire life has never before lost to rivals from the top 10 of the WTA rating, and for Williams, who occupies the eighth line, this will be an alarming bell.