Daniil Medvedev has denied Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar grand slam after defeating him to win the 2021 US Open.
Gatekeepers News reports that Russian Medvedev has dominantly beaten Serbian Djokovic – 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, to win the men’s singles title at the 2021 US Open.
Although this is Medvedev’s first victory in Grand Slam singles, the 25-year-old played a spoiler to Djokovic’s bid to win all four majors — the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open — in the same year, known as the calendar-year Grand Slam since 1988.
The Russian also shut down the Serb’s move to overtake his rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, for the all-time record of Grand Slam singles titles.
Sunday’s defeat has left Djokovic tied with his ‘Big Three’ competitors at 20 Grand Slam titles each. The Serbian who is the youngest of the ‘Big Three’ at 34-years-old, has won eight of his 20 major championships in the last three years.
It turned out to be that third time is a charm, as Medvedev previously lost to Nadal in the 2019 US Open final and also lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open in February this year. The 25-year-old who just played his third career Grand Slam final has become the first player of his generation to defeat any of the ‘Big Three’ legends in a Grand Slam final.
Although Djokovic on his part had managed to overcome earlier threats from the ‘Next Gen’ players this season after defeating beat Medvedev in the Australian Open final, Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open final, and Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon final, he got into trouble when facing Medvedev’s impressive serve in New York this year.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Russian came into this final a bit fresher than Djokovic, having an easier draw and only spending 11 hours and 51 minutes on court to reach the final, compared to the Serb’s 17 hours and 26 minutes.
