| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 28 August-10 September |
| Coverage: Daily dwell textual content and radio commentaries throughout the BBC Sport web site, app, BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra |
Carlos Alcaraz had his reign as US Open champion ended by Daniil Medvedev because the Russian arrange one other New York final towards Novak Djokovic.
The Spanish high seed misplaced 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 3-6 6-3 to Medvedev, making certain there might be no repeat of the Wimbledon final between Alcaraz and Djokovic.
Djokovic swatted apart younger American Ben Shelton to transfer inside yet another win of a record-equalling twenty fourth main title.
The Serb, 36, gained 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to shut in on Margaret Court’s tally.
Alcaraz, 20, prevented Djokovic levelling Court’s tally after they met on the All England Club in July and Russian third seed Medvedev, who gained his sole main at Flushing Meadows two years in the past, may do the identical on Sunday.
Medvedev regained his composure in a tense end to serve out victory, taking a fourth match level to win a charming contest which left a lot of the 24,000 crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium on their toes.
Djokovic misplaced to Medvedev in the 2021 final and was not allowed to enter the United States for final 12 months’s event as a result of he was unvaccinated towards Covid-19.
However, he has now has reached a tenth US Open final on his return and can intention for a fourth title triumph on Sunday.
Djokovic reacted by mimicking Shelton’s celebration of choosing up a cellphone – to point out he was dialled in – and slamming it down.
“These are the matches and events I thrive on, they encourage me each day to maintain working as laborious because the younger guys,” stated Djokovic.
“I nonetheless really feel I’ve one thing left in the legs and one thing to give to the game. I could not be happier.”
Medvedev performed ’12 out of 10′ to beat Alcaraz
Going into the final Grand Slam event of the 12 months, most individuals predicted Alcaraz and Djokovic would proceed their creating rivalry by assembly as soon as once more in a significant final.
One man with the excellent pedigree to cease that taking place was Medvedev.
The 27-year-old has proved he can thrive on the North American laborious courts, notably when he dominated the swing in 2019 earlier than shedding to Rafael Nadal in the US Open final and two years later when he landed his maiden main title.
Before going through Alcaraz in the final 4, the Russian stated he wanted to play “11 out of 10” to beat the highest seed.
And so he did in the opening two units, sticking in the rallies to draw errors out of Alcaraz and dominating his service video games on his manner to a commanding lead.
Alcaraz, backed by quite a lot of Spanish followers in the gang, clawed a set again as his continuous strikes ahead paid off.
But he was nonetheless unable to attain his highest stage with Medvedev, rock strong from the baseline and exhibiting sharp anticipation, very good in all sides.
Medvedev saved three break factors for a 2-1 lead and took Alcaraz’s serve in a pivotal sixth recreation lasting over 13 minutes.
Getting over the road was not a easy process, Medvedev double faulting twice after lacking a match level, earlier than he landed three well timed first serves to assist safe victory.
“I stated I wanted to play 11 out of 10 towards Carlos. I performed 12 out of 10, besides from the third set,” Medvedev, who will contest his third US Open final in 5 years, stated.
“He is truthfully actually unbelievable. To beat him you want to be higher than your self and I managed to do it.”
Djokovic teaches one other lesson to one other teenager
An indication of Djokovic’s greatness has been his potential to dominate a lot youthful opponents on the most important levels over latest years.
In the previous 5 seasons, Djokovic has misplaced solely eight of the 53 matches he has performed towards opponents underneath the age of 23.
At Wimbledon, Alcaraz was solely the second participant youthful than Djokovic – after Medvedev on the 2021 US Open – to beat him in a significant final since 2020.
With Djokovic’s method, mentality and athleticism exhibiting few indicators of weakening, Shelton was the newest younger pretender to be taught a lesson.
The second seed enforced his high quality and expertise from the beginning, serving neatly and returning Shelton’s largest weapon effectively earlier than intensifying the stress.
Djokovic remained totally calm and managed to quieten the house crowd, additional flattening the temper at the beginning of the third set.
Shelton made a visit to the locker room in a bid to change the dynamic, however two double faults led to Djokovic breaking in the primary recreation with an outstanding passing winner.
Winning in straight units regarded a formality for the 23-time main champion till Shelton discovered his finest stage of the match to break again for 4-4.
The world quantity 47 created a set level at 5-4 which Djokovic saved with a pinpoint service winner, earlier than a sloppy recreation allowed Djokovic to strike for 6-5.
Shelton was not completed but. He noticed Djokovic push a forehand broad on match level and broke again to power a tie-break, just for Djokovic to ramp up the depth once more earlier than taking his second match level.
