Carlos Alcaraz looks dejected after the match. Reuters
New York, September 9
Daniil Medvedev beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to advance to his third US Open final, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.
“I said I needed to play 11 out of 10. I played 12 out of 10, except the third set," Medvedev was quoted as saying by ‘usopen'.
"That's the only way (to beat Alcaraz). He's so young, already two Grand Slams, world No. 1 for many weeks, it's honestly just pretty unbelievable and I think nobody has done it before him, so to beat him you need to be better than yourself and I managed to do it.”
In a matchup of two superstars, each with their own unique set of preternatural tennis talents, the 2021 New York champion, Medvedev got his calculations just right to neutralise the uber-athletic game of Alcaraz with his own brand of metronomic baseline brilliance. The third seed also leaned on a stellar serving performance that peaked in the second set, when he rattled off three straight love holds.
Medvedev was hanging on at the start, battling through a series of tough holds and saving the only two break points of the first set as Alcaraz flew out of the blocks. But the tide began to turn when Medvedev won 12 straight points on serve late in the set, including a pair of love holds.
The third seed shook off a double fault that made it 3-3 in the tiebreak by hitting two forehand winners in a four-point blitz to close the set.
Medvedev drove home that advantage with an instant break in set two, and he did not lose a point on serve in the set until he harmlessly conceded two in serving out the frame.
In the end, the puzzle presented by Medvedev was too tough to overcome. It was the third seed's turn to endure a titanic service game in the final game of the match, but he fought off three break points and sealed the deal with a hugely satisfying overhead that bounded high into the stands.
Medvedev's latest stretch of dominance sets him up for a rematch of that 2021 final against Novak Djokovic—a match he won in straight sets to deny the Serbian a calendar-year Grand Slam.
In order to stop Djokovic from claiming a record-tying 24th major singles title, Medvedev knows he will need another otherworldly showing.
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