US Open: Daniil Medvedev with the last "hurray" against Rafael Nadal?
Daniil Medvedev meets Rafael Nadal in the final of the US Open. While the Russian is aiming for his first Grand Slam title, the Mallorcan is aiming for his 19th major title. The match is available in our live ticker.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Sep 08, 2019, 04:49 pm
At the end of his sixth victorious US Open appearance, Daniil Medvedev had finally come to a surprisingly obvious conclusion. Medvedev was on the center court of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday night, having just moved into the New York final after a three-set win over Grigor Dimitrov, and now he was listing what had happened to him in the past few days and weeks everything had happened: he had come over to the States and Canada after Wimbledon, had reached the finals in Washington and Montreal and won in Cincinnati. Then came the US Open, "with injuries, arguing with the fans, a bit of idiocy of me and a lot of victories." All in all, Medvedev figured it was the "best time ever", which is why he now also says can and must: "I love the USA."
You never really know what the 23-year-old Russian really means. And what is suitable to go through as irony, also as the simple charring of the New York tennis friends, who whistled him uncontrollably for some time because of some escapades and finally came back to his side discreetly. But what is pretty clear on the table is this: Medvedev has managed to position itself as a possible heir to the trio of extraordinary gentlemen, i.e.Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal , this summer. One of these big three will meet Medvedev again on Sunday afternoon in the cup match, Nadal, the fighter type from Mallorca, who defeated the Italian Matteo Berrettini in the second semi-final
Nadal for the 19th major title
It may be a very unpleasant encounter for Medvedev, Nadal seems unstoppable these days in the Big Apple. But who would get involved in the predictions of Medvedev, this unpredictable contender, who had always been predicted to drop out in the course of the tournament, in the very early rounds when he was covered with bandages and complained of tiredness after the mammoth program of the North American summer . Most recently, Medvedev looked refreshed, revitalized, in normal condition, which is not a good sign for the competition: Because Medvedev usually goes with every hour for every pace and every ball change with a stoic expression, his last opponent Dimitrov said about Medvedev, who "plays." everything back before you make a mistake yourself. ”However: Nadal, the old Kämpe, is not known for giving away a lot, certainly not in any way carelessly the chance for the 19th Grand Slam title, the approach to Federer his 20 cup wins.
# BETATHOMEUS #
Medvedev, who in the meantime played the part of the bad boy in this tournament with some deceit and drew some strength from it, has also stood out powerfully in the past few weeks from his generation mates - from all those who made headlines as potential challengers for the elite group at the top . But none of the Zverevs, Tsitsipas´, Kyrgios´ or Shapavalovs has put up a series comparable to that of the smooth strategist, with four final appearances in series, 21 wins in 23 games, a final playground in a Grand Slam - and incidentally also the storm 5th in the world rankings and qualification for the season finale in London. In the hit list for most of the season wins, Medvedev is ahead of the usual suspects with 50 successes - Nadal 45, Federer 43, Djokovic 41.On the other hand, Medvedev goes into the ultimate showdown of these 2019 American Open Championships as a final debut, while Nadal contests his 27th final .
Does the unconventional, even unorthodox Muscovite have a chance against the "Matador from Manacor", the relentless wrestler? When they recently met for the first and only time in the Masters Final in Canada, the human machine Nadal overran the opponent 6: 3 and 6: 0. Many of the multitude of tennis experts basically don't expect anything else in New York, but they also put a but behind their calculation. The but called Medvedev, a player you don't know what's going to happen in the next moment, maybe even a last hurray, a masterpiece against the big favorite. It can be very one-sided in the endgame. Or come quite differently.