2023-09-09 05:02:31
New York (AFP)
Russian Daniil Medvedev stripped his Spanish opponent, Carlos Alcarras, ranked first, of his title in the US Championship, the last of the four major tennis tournaments, by defeating him in the semi-finals 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in an exhibition match in New York. He reached the final to meet veteran Serbian Novak Djokovic, holder of the 23-time major championship title.
The 27-year-old Russian, who holds the title in 2021, said: “It is crazy to return to the final, especially after beating Carlos. He beat me easily in the last two matches, so I had a lot of doubts before the match, but I played a good match, and I will be here on Sunday!” .
The third seed, who reached the top of the world rankings in 2022, continued, “I said that I must present a level of 11 out of 10 to win against Carlos, but I played 12 out of 10.”
The Russian hopes to win his second major title, after he prevented Djokovic in particular from winning a major quadruple in one year, by defeating him in three sets in the 2021 Flushing Meadows final.
The Moscow native lost the finals of three major tournaments, twice in Australia to Djokovic in 2021, and to Spain’s Rafael Nadal in 2022, and once in Flushing Meadows to Nadal in 2019.
In contrast to his clean loss to Alcarras in the Wimbledon semi-finals in July, the Russian remained calm in the first set, raising his level at the right time in the tie-break, where he scored the last four points.
Alkaras, 20, who failed to become the first player to retain his title in New York since Roger Federer in 2008, said, “I completely lost my mind in that set. I fight for fifty minutes, then four points make me lose my mind.”
While Alcarras did not face any break of serve in the first set, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Medvedev dominated the second, losing only two points on his serve, and breaking the Spaniard’s serve twice.
Alkaras maintained his hopes after winning the third, but Medvedev thwarted his promising start in the fourth, as he came back and took a 4-2 lead, on his way to settling the confrontation in 3 hours and 19 minutes.
After an enthusiastic final half, in which the Spaniard saved three balls to decide the match, he said, “I thought I had become better at finding solutions when the match was not in my favor, but after this match, I will change my mind. I am not mature enough to deal with this type of match. I have to learn.” “From what happened.”
Second-seeded Djokovic was the first to reach the tenth final at Flushing Meadows out of 17 participants, defeating the young American host Ben Shelton 6-3, 6-2, 7-6.
Djokovic is at the top of the world rankings for professional players, at the expense of Alcarras in particular, regardless of his result in the final match.
But the thirty-six-year-old, who was banned from participating in the last edition, because he refused to receive the anti-Covid-19 vaccine, will not be able to engage in a new epic confrontation with Alcarras, who defeated him in the Wimbledon final, and lost to him in Roland Garros.
The Serbian seeks to win his fourth title in New York, after 2011, 2015 and 2018, and the 24th in major tournaments, and equaling the absolute record in the men’s and women’s categories registered in the name of Australian Margaret Court.
Djokovic also reached the final of a major tournament for the thirty-sixth time, five times better than the retired Federer. The Serbian also succeeded in qualifying for the final of the four major tournaments in one year for the third time, after 2015 and 2021.
Djokovic, winner 22 times in the last 23 major semi-finals, said: “Another Grand Slam final. I cannot be happier with what I have achieved, and regardless of who my opponent is in the final, I will play the hardest match in the tournament.”
Djokovic is also seeking to become the oldest player to be crowned at Flushing Meadows in the modern era, by defeating Medvedev, who is the most consistent on solid ground.
On the other hand, Shelton, 20 years old, was playing his first full season in the Professional Players Association tournaments, and in his first participation in a Grand Slam tournament, he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open at the beginning of this year.
Djokovic succeeded in taming Shelton’s missile serves in the first and second sets and settled them easily in his favor, but he found steadfastness in the third, where the American succeeded in dragging him into a tiebreak, after the two players exchanged breaks of serve twice, but the Serb’s experience tipped the balance in his favor, and he won. In the match in two hours and 40 minutes.
Shelton, who enters the top 20 club after being ranked 47th, said, “There is a little disappointment. I am a fighter. Every loss is painful, but this week has made me more motivated.”
Shelton was celebrating his victories by making the gesture of hanging up the phone, and the Serbian repeated it after his victory, “I love the way he celebrates a victory. I find it very innovative, so I imitated it. I stole his celebration.” Shelton commented, “When I was a child, I was always told that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
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