US Open: Medvedev shocks the world as he comfortably finishes off overwhelming favorite Djokovic 6-4 6-4 6-4 in the finals

Medvedev shocked the world as he broke an insurmountable barrier by defeating Novak Djokovic in the finals of the US Open 6-4 6-4 6-4. The World No. 2 won his first Grand Slam due to this victory.

Novak Djokovic is probably the greatest player the sport has ever seen and it looked like nobody was even close to his tier, this year, whether it’s physically, mentally or technically but that wall has finally been broken by the Russian Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev broke the barrier that did not allow anyone to break a mentality monster such as the Serbian No. 1. He won in straight sets 6-4 6-4 6-4 against one of the all-time greats.

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Djokovic ultimately fell not in a titanic match, but a match where his mistakes were thoroughly punished by an opponent who wanted to prove his worth and be the only person to beat him in a Grand Slam, this year. Djokovic had entered the match with a record of 27-0 in all Grand Slam matches and was on track to win a calendar Grand Slam, a feat that has not been earned since Australian tennis legend Rod Laver achieved it in 1969. Djokovic was the overwhelming favourite to do it this year but he surprisingly went behind and never came back. The burden of expectations to create history ultimately fell on him, as seen when he broke his racquet, frustrated by his performance in the finals.

His opponent, Medvedev was earlier beaten by the same man in the Australian Open finals this year but that did not faze him as he used his 6 foot 6 frames to his advantage as he responded to Djokovic’s shots with effortless groundstrokes and covered every inch of the court to tire out the Serbian as the latter does it with each and every opponent. Djokovic made mistakes and he recorded up to 38 unforced errors and was only able to convert one break chance but it was too late to change the direction of the match. Medvedev’s absolute effortless serving also helped him win the match.

Medvedev won his first grand slam and Djokovic became the third man after Jack Crawford in 1933 and Lee Hoad in 1956 who won a trio of Grand Slams but lost the US Open final. His record also remains at 20 Grand Slams, equal to Federer and Nadal.

Djokovic, for now, will rue his loss but for Medvedev, it will be a start of a new chapter in his career and breaking the Djokovic barrier will help him a lot in that regard.