US Open 2021

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The draw has been made and, as has been mentioned in the previous topic, Murray has the short straw this time - Tsitsipas in the first round.

Cameron Norrie has a tricky first round, against Spain youngster Alcaraz. Djoko gets a possible semi against Zverev, while Tsitsipas is in Medvedev's half. Medvedev doesn't have the easiest of starts - first up Gasquet and then, possibly, former US winner Cilic.

For me, Djoko is still favourite but not overwhelming favourite. We don't quite know what shape his body is in and he's had no real preparation. Zverev, Medvedev and Tsitsipas will all fancy their chances. I would be surprised if the winner came from anyone outside these aforesaid foursome.

Others with a chance? Rublev probably leads the next-favourite field. I'm not a big Berrettini fan but I suppose a case can be made out for him (message to his opponents - just stick it on his backhand).

For once of late, there appears to be a clear favourite in the women - Barty. Osaka, though, has twice won the US and if she can get her head sorted out she could do well. There are so many GS champs lining up that, as usual, it's mighty hard to predict how the women's tournament will pan out.

Medvedev up 2 sets to love. Can Djokovic perform a miracle? and gets broken in the first game of third set.

I'm almost at a loss for words concerning Djokovic's performance so far as he goes two sets down. Serving poorly, making mistakes off both wings and worst of all has looked slapdash and almost as if he's expecting to lose right from the off.

If anyone can rescue it from here, it's him. But it looks as if he's cracked under the pressure somewhat, or something has upset his preparation at the eleventh hour.

The whole crowd behind Djokovic, this will require a miracle now

Djokovic looks unusually out of sorts and perhaps tired. Look at the sweat on his face in the close ups? Is that the issue? He seems to be going to the net and avoiding rallies at times?

Perhaps the pressure has got to him for once.

Maybe he didn´t sleep well last night?

Am I the only one wondering why Djoko keeps going to the Medvedev backhand? His forehand is much more error prone! It has indeed been a poor show from Djokovic so far but its totally understandable. I am a Medvedev fan so I'm happy with how it's going so far.

What an anti climax, so poor

Djokovic down a double break now. Very unlikely to come back from such a deficit, unless Medvedev has a melt down.

So many times Novak has looked out of sorts and then fought back, but you just can´t see it at the moment.

Maybe if Medvedev bottles at least one service game first.

Very odd. Will be interesting to see the presser later.

Currently Novak rated at 3% chance to win on Betfair live betting. That is pretty low. I would give him 10% chance.

Another very poor capitulation in that game from Djokovic. This one is all over. Bizarrely, he looks as if he's got no fight in him at all tonight. Doesn't want the hard graft.

He's been given plenty of help by how bad Djokovic has been, but credit to Medvedev for taking advantage and (so far) looking confident and assured. Some great scrambles and gets in the second set and early in the third. His serve has held up at key moments. Don't see him getting tight as he closes this one out, especially considering the enormous lead he has.

These American cement courts suit Medvedev to a tee. His serve is incredible.
Djokovic hammered Medvedev in Melbourne but those conditions are totally different to New York.
New York is considerably faster than Melbourne.

Medvedev has been solid and consistent but he hasn´t had to do anything magical.

Henman Bill wrote:Medvedev has been solid and consistent but he hasn´t had to do anything magical.

You only have to do enough to win.
They don’t pay you extra to be special

Jeff Navarro wrote:New York is considerably faster than Melbourne.

How is Australian Open Surface Different from US Open?

laverfan wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:New York is considerably faster than Melbourne.

How is Australian Open Surface Different from US Open?

They changed surface in New York in 2020.
Djokovic 9-0 in Melbourne
Djokovic 3-5 in New York prior to surface change

Well well well...Medvedev blows a championship point and then chucks away the game to boot with back-to-back double faults and a poor forehand error. No crisis yet but will be interesting to see if Djokovic can get him tight and maybe force another set.

To be fair to Novak there winning that first point so well might have been key, otherwise that game might have been different.

Idiots screaming between Medvedev’s serve. Embarrassing

Come on Medvedev, shut the door.

Medvedev badly needs to find some serves here...Djokovic is right back in this. You could see a Novak win if he could just break serve here.

Magnificent Medvedev masters New York. A worthy champion.

Get in! What an impressive game after failing to serve it out the first time!

Get in there. Fully deserved winner.

Congratulations to Medvedev on his first Major. Well played, Djokovic.

Perhaps, Djokovic will get another shot at CYGS.

That was a terrible fall to the floor celebration. From the Roger Federer 2003/2004 school of mildly embarrassing not quite sure how to celebrate collapses.

Sums up the match to be honest.

Well done Medvedev for a solid performance but none of us will ever get the tape and watch this again.

Congrats to Medvedev, only one player turned up today. Djokovic was so tight and looked so lethargic. Really poor performance but 3 slams, awesome year.

As for Medvedev, not a pretty player to watch but very effective. He will win several slams.

Well done Medvedev. What's really great about his victory is that he did it against one of the Big Three. Shame that Federer and Nadal couldn't be there but the Big Three winning all the majors is over I think.

It would be odd if Djokovic, Feder and Nadal each finished their careers with 20 majors a piece.

Well done Medvedev - for a while there it was shades of Ivanisevic trying to close out Wimbledon twenty years back, with those double faults on match point. His serve went AWOL in that final game but when the rallies got going he was hitting the ball positively and putting it to a really good length. Played it confidently and he's a deserved winner.

To be fair to him, when your opponent is playing badly and making so many errors it can be hard to make your own performance really shine, but he was generally solid, served well for the most part (those last couple of games aside) and showed some tremendous speed and court coverage at times.

I'm disappointed in Djokovic's performance. This was supposed to be an historical moment for him and the men's game - because even if he lost, you were expecting it to take a really special performance in a spellbinder of match to beat him. In the end we got neither the glorious coronation or the classic performance to deny him.

I'm not shocked that Djokovic lost because his record in US Open finals is patchy (only relatively speaking, mind you) and at 34 it's never ideal to have spent six hours more on court than your opponent going into a final. But I am a little stunned at the performance, or lack thereof. He possibly made a mistake travelling to Tokyo for the Olympics this year, who knows?

For what it's worth, even if he'd have completed the calendar year Grand Slam tonight, for me it still wouldn't have been as impressive or as demonstrative of his greatness as his 'Djoker Slam' of 2015-16. I don't deduct any points for that simply because it straddled two years rather than neatly fitting into one. He still won those four Slams in a row across all the surfaces, and he played at a consistently higher level then than he's had to in 2021. And though his semi final win in Paris against Rafa was sensational, I'd say overall he was facing and beating better opposition in that 2015-16 run.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Idiots screaming between Medvedev’s serve. Embarrassing

They broke Medvedevs concentration and as a result he double faulted twice and lost his serve.  However he served it out in his following service game. Medvedev won convincingly.

I can't be the only one touched by Djoko's tearful speech, could endear him to the fans the same way as Murray in his losing Wimbledon 2012 speech. It was good to see his more vulnerable side as he's usually very steely and determined to make history.

Medvedev said he did fifa celebration LOL

Well done Medvedev.  Not the best of matches but that was mostly due to Djokovic.  Djokovic looked uncharacteristically weak.  I wonder whether it was more nerves or fatigue from his previous matches.

Also, congrats to Raducanu on yesterday's win.  After Henin retired I have been watching less and less of women's tennis and it has been years since I last watched a women's GS final.  But I did watch yesterday and I was not disappointed.  I was half worried that we would get to see what a match between a top 70 and top 150 player might look like but they both played really well.  Their final was better than many that I have seen in the past even if it was somewhat one-sided in the end.

summerblues wrote: I wonder whether it was more nerves or fatigue from his previous matches.

Good to see ya, SB! Djokovic's lack of movement, and most likely fatigue played a significant role in his loss.

So perhaps  the tennis gods decided that the truly momentous achievement by teenage sensation Emma Raducanu was more than enough tennis history for one weekend …… for one year, even !

Djokovic had a very impressive season in making all four Finals, and to take home the trophy from three : something that Federer (and Nadal ??) has also managed a couple of times. But, to make the clean sweep is - it seems - just a bridge too far in today’s game.

It will always sound agonisingly close to think that only one match was lost out of 28, but the harsh reality is that sport has always been cruel in that way, just like the hardest point to win is so often the last one. It’s a big part of what keeps us all so involved, and last night was another reminder of just how tough it is to replicate the feat of a certain spectator present yesterday in NYC, a certain Mr. Laver.

Big congrats to Medvedev on the first of what will surely be a number of Slams. He has been knocking on the door and you always felt it would have to give before too long. When running smoothly - as it did throughout these two weeks - his game has the power to overwhelm.

Something tells me that the stars will not align again for Djokovic, and his chance at this particular target will not come again. Age will be a factor in part, but of course the more fundamental issue is the growing strength of challenge to be seen amidst the younger talents now sitting comfortably within the top ten.

Honourable mention is also deserved by Andy Murray who showed us what lives within. This was undoubtedly a memorable USO, notwithstanding notable absentees.

laverfan wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:Money and success can't buy you class.

If you are referring to Djokovic, it is a tad bit unfair.

When you factor in the olympics I don't think it is.

Agonising for Djoko. Bit like climbing all the way up Everest but unable to complete the last few feet to the summit.

We're so used to him playing amazing tennis in semis and finals of Slams despite looking patchy in earlier rounds.

From the bits I saw of the semi, Novak was brilliant against Zverev. But they had such exhausting rallies, including that epic 53-stroke one, that I wondered whether it had taken a lot out of Djoko.

As Lags says above, this so-near-yet-so-far result shows just how difficult it is to win 28 best-of-five matches in one season. Chalking up 27 in a row doesn't necessarily mean you're going to do it.

Also, Djoko's gallant failure - and it was gallant overall, despite his comparatively poor display last night - actually enhances the CYGS legend in a way that a Novak win yesterday would not.

People would have pointed to the fact that Djoko had done it with, at times, others of the Big Three absent. There could also have been talk of a lack of a real challenge from the rivals who did make into the Slam draws.

As it is, the fact that even a man with such a rock-solid temperament and game could not quite get over the final hurdle showed the enormity of the task.

More simplistically, a younger, fitter guy in good form and with less time spent on court beat a 34-year-old who'd had a mentally and physically exhausting season and who had the weight of history on his shoulders.

sirfredperry wrote: ………………………………………….

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More simplistically, a younger, fitter guy in good form and with less time spent on court beat a 34-year-old who'd had a mentally and physically exhausting season and who had the weight of history on his shoulders.

In truth, it ultimately was as simple as this.

The reality is that last night’s outcome (albeit perhaps not the actual scoreline) was not too great a surprise : “World Number One loses a tennis match to World Number Two” is hardly the stuff of mainstream media headlines. It has of course happened very often over the years, it will happen again ; and in most cases we barely bat an eyelid. Yes, it was (temporarily) magnified because of what was on the line for the history books, but the fact remains that genuine ‘shocks’ stem from big ranking gaps : Stakhovsky taking out Federer @ Wimbledon, Rosol mugging Rafa ……. etc etc

One thing we do know : Medvedev didn’t look overly-surprised at his progress during the match and that’s because he is now at a level where he considerers himself more than a match for Djokovic. And so it proved.

I just cannot fathom what i watched last night.

To say it was a shock to see Djoko play so poorly is an understatement. I do not think i have seen him look so spent, both mentally and physically, for many years.

A lot of talk yesterday that his extra 5 hours on court finally caught up with him, that he looked like his legs werent there, etc.

FWIW, i just think the pressure of the CYGS weighed too heavy on his shoulders yesterday. Novak has had many gruelling runs to finals of slams before and he has never played as poorly as he did yesterday.

I'm not knocking him for it but it was so disappointing as a fan to see him seemingly just give up at times in the match yesterday. As soon as he lost his serve in the opening game, the narrative of the match changed. That seems a strange observation considering it was just the first game in a best of 5 set match, however Djoko just never got into the match after throwing away 40-15 lead in that opening game.

He didn't look like he wanted to be out there TBH and the litany of unforced errors was completely uncharacteristic

Hats off to Medvedev though, he played a solid match and his serving was superb, Novak was always going to struggle to break his serve and he made a mess of the few break points he did manage to carve out.

Did he choke yesterday, seems harsh to put that label on him considering everything he's achieved, however it looks like he just bottled it and was unable to play his natural game due to the enormity of the occasion.

Congratulations to Medvedev - a deserved and new slam winner of the US Open. It is a win that will put him fine fettle for future slams now that he has gone the distance. It takes his belief onto a rarely reached plateau.

As for Novak Djokovic I just think he was mentally spent by the pressure of it all. And physically he looked jaded and unable to change the pattern of the match which is very unusual for him suggesting his mind was scrambled. I am sure he'll be back in top shape for the start of next season though and contending strongly for more slam wins.

Strange to say about a player who won three slams this year but it feels as though Novak’s chances to win more slams might be running out. I think he’s put a huge amount into winning the CYGS and he may struggle to energise himself for the start of next year. Even he cannot recover as well as he used to for back to back matches (there were signs of similar issues at RG when he was so sluggish for two sets of the final after beating Nadal in that brutal SF) and Medvedev and Zverev are tricky for him nowadays on hard court. Combine that with the fact there’s real pressure on him to get to 21, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t win in Oz. Oddly, Wimbledon may be the easiest one for him next year.

Fantastic for Medvedev who looked the best player all tournament. Just needs to adapt his game for clay and grass now, and he could be the dominant player for the next few years.

Djokovic at 34 is not quite the same physical specimen as in his mid to late 20s. His run to this CYGS opportunity was really built on the victory over Nadal at RG - outside of that, his winning in Aus is hardly a surprise even now (no one better ever on mid-slow hard courts) and there were so few competent grass court players at Wimbledon that it wouldn't have entirely surprised me if a half-fit Federer or Murray had made the final. BUt of course, you can only beat what's the other side of the net, and it's not Djokovic's fault that this year has seen little participation from Fed or Nadal while others have struggled to step up to fill the void.

Obviously there was also a pressure from the weight of history - while Federer has been one final away from the CYGS twice and Novak himself in 2015, they were French finals, so they were never playing the ultimate match for the Slam, so yesterday was the first time a male player has been so close to the CYGS since Laver.

Obviously the women's tournament has been an absolute sensation, with Fernandez running through most of the established stars and Raducanu racing through the other side of the draw and then winning the battle of the teenagers in the final. Be interesting to see what happens next for Raducanu, as she did have an issue with the pressure at Wimbledon, and in some ways has had no weight of expectation on her through this crazy run - pretty much no match she started favourite based on ranking / experience / expectation, so in a way it was a free ride. Must have given her amazing levels of confidence though - not many players win their 4th WTA tournament of any level, never mind that it was a Slam.

I don't think Raducanu should have issues with pressure going forward. She's made such progress in such a short period of time it would be amazing if there were no wobbles. However I can't help thinking that the press will be an issue for her going forward. They'll be watching every step she takes and that will be hard.

Djokovic may have won the first three slams of the year and there were some stellar performances in there like Nadal in Paris but overall his level isn't anywhere near what it was back in 2015 for instance. It's a relief to see one of the next generation actually beat him and beat him well, Tennis needed that more than it did the calendar grand slam.

On Raducanu it's hard to know if this is a flash in the pan or a sign of things to come, she hasn't won a match on the WTA tour yet so how she copes playing top level tennis most of the year is an unknown. There are after all a lot of recent flash in the pan slam winners in the womens game. She definitely has the game to win more slams it's just how she copes with everything else.

Soul Requiem wrote:Djokovic may have won the first three slams of the year and there were some stellar performances in there like Nadal in Paris but overall his level isn't anywhere near what it was back in 2015 for instance. It's a relief to see one of the next generation actually beat him and beat him well, Tennis needed that more than it did the calendar grand slam.

On Raducanu it's hard to know if this is a flash in the pan or a sign of things to come, she hasn't won a match on the WTA tour yet so how she copes playing top level tennis most of the year is an unknown. There are after all a lot of recent flash in the pan slam winners in the womens game. She definitely has the game to win more slams it's just how she copes with everything else.

Where her experience consists of 2 tournaments - Nottingham before Wimbledon and San Jose afterwards, prior to her making a final at the Challenger-equivalent level. The whole thing makes absolutely no sense. Anyway, the Wimbledon organisers must be giving themselves a pat on the back, as it was the points she gained as a wildcard that even made her eligible for the USO qualifying...

@ Born Slippy - these comments strike me as well-considered, and I’m inclined to agree with most / all of what you say here.

The ‘default’ reaction to the sort of loss suffered by Djokovic is “ah, he will put this behind him, he’s too good a player to not bounce back …. he will be challenging as strongly as ever next season” But I’m personally far from sure.

No player (other than rare cases such as the decision by Sampras to retire as a Champion, after what he felt was his ‘swansong’ USO win) fully expects that their most recent Slam victory will definitely be their last. The thinking, of course, is that if I’ve just won a Slam, then I’m *obviously* good enough to win another. But history tells us that the reality can very often be different. A decline has to come at some stage ; and BS has already articulated rather well the reasons why Djokovic’s own decline might very well be in progress ……. Time alone will tell just how quickly he is pushed down the rankings.

Much talk about Djoko’s poor level in this Final just played. BUT …….. who can say how things would have panned out if he had shown better form …..? Medvedev is all-square in the h2h at 4-4 so I think it was always going to be a difficult match to call.

Djokovic's record at the US Open leading up to yesterdays final was reached 8 finals and lost five.  Now it is reached 9 finals and lost six.  In the past two years he had only reached the fourth round, including last years disqualification stemming from frustration.

At the Australian Open he has reached 9 finals and lost zero.

I'm not sure if the difference between his record at these two tournaments is due to the difference in court speeds, difference in other conditions or just that one occurs at the start of a season and the other at the end.  

I didn't have Djokovic as the favorite for this tournament for various reasons previously mentioned.  I didn't expect Djokovic to get past Zverev in the semi-final here but he did, but then it all went flat for him in the final against Medvedev.  In his post match interview Djokovic said his legs felt heavy and he was unable to get sufficient energy into them.  Interestingly he suggested his sub-par performance was likely associated with the intense emotional pressure he considered himself to be under over the past five or six months (slams, Olympics, playing in Belgrade) rather than his age.

I found both Djokovics and Medvedevs post-final press interviews illuminating.

lags
don't entirely disagree, but with the caveat that the next slam is the Australian Open, where Djokovic has won the last 3 tournaments and 8 of the last 11. If there is one place where a slightly faded Djokovic can still win, it would be Melbourne.

No space for a hurting Novak on any of today’s front pages in UK press - or even (most) news bulletins.

Only one tennis player splashed on each & every cover ! But then hardly surprising, I guess, given that a) Raducanu is a Brit, and b) Djoko has never really been a firm ‘fans favourite’.

Would things have been different, one wonders, if he HAD made the CYGS ……..

lags72 wrote:No space for a hurting Novak on any of today’s front pages in UK press - or even (most) news bulletins.

Only one tennis player splashed on each & every cover ! But then hardly surprising, I guess, given that a) Raducanu is a Brit, and b) Djoko has never really been a firm ‘fans favourite’.

Would things have been different, one wonders, if he HAD made the CYGS ……..

and C) Novak looks like Screech from Saved by the Bell, while Raducanu doesn't

Djokovic press conference:

"My legs were not there. I was trying. I did my best. Yeah, I made a lot of unforced errors. I didn't have -- no serve really."
"energy-wise I felt slow."

Q. Did the other matches catch up with you as well today? The five-setter against Sascha, that run of four-setters, did that have any effect on you today?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Could be. Could be. I had more hours on the court spent from Daniil, that's for sure. But was also emotionally very demanding period for me in the last five, six months. Slams and Olympics and playing at home in Belgrade. Everything was coming together for me here and kind of accumulating all the emotions that I've been through.

Q. After the journey that you just described, what were the thoughts and emotions that you experienced when you were sitting courtside after the match today?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Relief. I was glad it was over because the buildup for this tournament and everything that mentally, emotionally I had to deal with throughout the tournament in the last couple of weeks was just a lot. It was a lot to handle.

https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2021-09-12/2021-09-12_interview_novak_djokovic_finals_2021_us_open.html

HB

Interesting comments from Djokovic, which I think show why the CYGS is such a difficult thing to achieve even if you are the overwhelming number 1 player in the world (Fed in the mid 200s, Djokovic around 2015-16). You have to be good enough across the surfaces and consistent across 4 long tournaments even before having to consider the pressure of expectation. The longer it goes on with no-one accomplishing it, the greater the psychological barrier will be to winning all four.

I wonder if in hindsight, Djokovic might have skipped the Olympics, to have a bit of a mental and physical refresh before the USI?