How far will Novak Djokovic go? Year after year, the Serbian leaves his mark on the history of his sport by breaking records one after the other. Sunday September 10, he won his fourth US Open by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final (6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3), bringing his number of titles in grand slam tournaments to 24 . He thus equals the absolute record of 24 grand slam titles held by Australian Margaret Court since the 1973 US Open. And has two titles more than Rafael Nadal and four more than Roger Federer while Serena Williams remained stuck at 23 victories. .
At 36, he will become world number one again on Monday and will begin his 390th week in this place. Another record. Against the Russian, Novak Djokovic offered himself the greatest revenge. It was on this same Arthur-Ashe court that he experienced one of his greatest disappointments when, in 2021, Daniil Medvedev deprived him of the feat of achieving a calendar grand slam.
But this time, the Serb arrived without the emotional pressure that had paralyzed him in 2021. It still took him 3 hours 17 minutes of grueling exchanges to get the better of Daniil Medvedev. On several occasions, the two players found themselves on the ground more or less voluntarily and took the opportunity to catch their breath as their fight was testing their bodies.
Novak Djokovic took this final in the right direction. Immediately in the game, he took advantage of a wavering from the Russian to steal his serve immediately, lead 3-0 and retained his advantage until the end, without having to save the slightest break point, to win the first set (6-3).
But the Russian held up much better in the second set, even if his stubbornness in placing himself extremely far from the baseline on Novak Djokovic’s serve allowed the Serb to win many points quite easily by serving and volleying. Daniil Medvedev offered himself his first break point of the match, to lead 5-3, but his tormentor saved it with an exceptional cushioned cross-court half-volley.
To conclude, Novak Djokovic gave one last push in the third set, as if not to risk the match dragging on. He quickly managed the break to lead 3-1. But he was unable to confirm and Medvedev returned. In the process, the Serb once again took his opponent’s serve to never let go and win 6-3 in the last set.
This is the fourth time, after 2011, 2015 and 2021, that Novak Djokovic has won three Majors in the year and therefore completed a “small slam”. No man had ever done this. Since the start of 2011, he has won 23 of the 51 grand slam titles at stake. Staggering figures as his reign seems far from over.
