A recreation from the top of his bid for what would have been the primary calendar-year Grand Slam in males’s tennis since 1969, Novak Djokovic coated his face with a towel, hiding his tears throughout a changeover.
For 27 Grand Slam matches in 2021, on arduous courts, clay courts and grass, Djokovic couldn’t be deterred, couldn’t be crushed. Needing yet another victory, within the U.S. Open remaining Sunday towards Daniil Medvedev, to finish a season sweep of main titles and to assert the report twenty first of his profession, Djokovic couldn’t come via.
Outplayed by somebody utilizing an analogous model to his personal, Djokovic got here up simply wanting these two historic milestones, shedding 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to first-time main champion Medvedev at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A merely beautiful efficiency from @DaniilMedwed pic.twitter.com/0sF1r2CiNg
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021
The No. 1-ranked Djokovic had been elegant on the sport’s 4 most essential tournaments, enduring the burdens of expectations and strain over the previous seven months and, in New York, the previous two weeks.
He beat Medvedev within the Australian Open remaining in February, then added titles on the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July.
But Djokovic, a 34-year-old from Serbia, couldn’t get to 28-0. He merely was removed from his finest on this explicit day.
He made errors, 38 unforced errors in all. He wasn’t capable of convert a break likelihood till it was too little, too late, going simply 1 for six. He confirmed frustration, too, destroying his racket by pounding it thrice towards the court docket after one level, drawing boos from the gang of 25,703 and a code violation from chair umpire Damien Dumusois.
List of gamers to defeat Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam in 2021:
Daniil Medvedev
-end of list-
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021
Plenty of Djokovic’s points needed to do with the No. 2-ranked Medvedev, who used his 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) body to chase down all the pieces and reply with seemingly easy groundstrokes — a lot the way in which Djokovic wears down foes — and delivered pinpoint serving. Medvedev received 20 of his first 23 service factors, establishing a sample.
He completed with 16 aces and 38 winners in all, 11 greater than Djokovic. After overcoming a number of double-faults on match level, Medvedev lastly completed the job, then toppled over to the court docket on his facet.
Djokovic reached his record-equaling thirty first Grand Slam remaining with six victories on the arduous courts of Flushing Meadows. But he couldn’t fairly get the final one he wanted.
He stays tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 main titles.
“To me you are the greatest tennis player in history.” pic.twitter.com/DZMH7MDr4N
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021
And the final man to finish a real Grand Slam by going 4 for 4 on the majors in a single season stays Rod Laver, who did it twice — in 1962 and 1969 — and was within the stands Sunday. The final lady to perform the feat was Steffi Graf in 1988.
Instead, Djokovic joins Jack Crawford in 1933 and Lew Hoad in 1956 as males who received a 12 months’s first trio of Grand Slam tournaments and made all of it the way in which to the U.S. Open remaining earlier than shedding.
Djokovic got here out a bit chilly Sunday, double-faulting in every of his preliminary two service video games and mixing in sufficient groundstroke miscues — bowing his head or rolling his eyes after some — that 12 minutes in, Medvedev was a degree from a second break and a 3-0 lead. Djokovic finally used a few aces at 117 mph and 124 mph to carry there, nevertheless it was Medvedev who stole the present within the early going.
This was the fifth consecutive match during which Djokovic dropped the primary set — and eleventh in Grand Slam play this 12 months — however in contrast to within the different situations, he couldn’t come again to win.
This second although 😊 pic.twitter.com/dgvqLMpdBv
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021
Djokovic bought to love-40 in Medvedev’s first service recreation of the second set however didn’t come via on any of these break factors. On the third, Djokovic put a sliced backhand within the web, then pounded his racket towards his left thigh — one, two, three, 4 occasions, maybe as dissatisfied in his footwork as something.
Thousands within the viewers tried to spice up him by chanting his nickname, “No-le! No-le! No-le!” After a few of Medvedev’s faults, some within the stands would applaud, thought-about poor kind in tennis and repeatedly admonished with a “please” from Dumusois.
