U.S. Open | Daniil Medvedev ousts defending champion Carlos Alcaraz to reach the final, Djokovic awaits
The Hindu
Medvedev beats Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to set up U.S. Open final rematch vs Djokovic. Medvedev played "12 out of 10" to outlast Alcaraz, who was trying to become the first man to win consecutive championships in New York since Federer. Medvedev's long arms and impressive returning helped him win the key 4th set game and the match.
Daniil Medvedev predicted he would need to play “11 out of 10” to get past defending champion and top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open.
How did Medvedev rate his performance against Alcaraz in the semifinals Friday night?
“I played 12 out of 10,” Medvedev declared after eliminating Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a rematch in the final against Novak Djokovic, a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4) winner over unseeded American Ben Shelton earlier Friday.
The No. 3-seeded Medvedev won his lone major championship at Flushing Meadows in 2021 by defeating 23-time Slam winner Djokovic in that year's title match. That prevented Djokovic from completing what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men's tennis since 1969.
Even before the start of these two weeks, folks had been anticipating a Djokovic vs. Alcaraz showdown on the last day of the event. Theirs is an inter-generational rivalry — Djokovic is 36; Alcaraz 20 — that has fascinated the tennis world in recent months.
A meeting in New York on Sunday would have been a rematch of the final of the Cincinnati Masters last month, won by Djokovic, and of the final at Wimbledon in July, won by Alcaraz, and of a semifinal at the French Open in June, won by Djokovic.
But it was not to be. Medvedev stood in the way. “These kind of matches can happen,” Alcaraz said.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.