The men’s US Open finals will see Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev competing for the trophy. The last Grand Slam of the year is near its end, with the finals of both competitions remaining.
Men’s part of the tournament saw two semifinals last night. In the first Daniil Medvedev defeated Grigor Dimitrov, while Rafael Nadal eliminated Matteo Berrettini. Both matches ended 3-0, and both lasted for 2 hours and 38 minutes.
Medvedev recorded his 20th win since the start of the American tour, and this time he routed Grigor Dimitrov with 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3. The first set saw a tiebreak, the fifth one for Medvedev in New York. The Russian has won all of them, showcasing his massive mental power. Medvedev, who is also in poor relations with the crowd here, manages to stay calm in decisive moments and to disregard all the negative factors surrounding him.
He was in a desperate situation during the opening set, as Dimitrov had a break-point chance which would seal the first sequence in his favor. Yet, the Bulgarian didn’t use it. The tiebreak saw both guys playing in waves, but eventually, it was the Russian who got the lead.
He had one break in the second set which was enough to double the lead, and in the end, routinely won the third set.
“When I came to the USA I didn’t know that it would be this good,” said Medvedev in an interview after the match. “I have to say I love USA.”
The Russian is the first player after Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl who reached the finals of Washington, Rogers Cup Cincinnati and the US Open one after another.
In the latter event, Rafael Nadal beat Matteo Berrettini with 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-1. Berrettini had two set points during the tiebreak of the first set. Still, the Italian’s hand was too shaky and couldn’t convert at least one, and Rafa sued that recording four straight points taking that part of the clash.
“The first set was a little frustrating because I had a lot of break points before the tie-break and he didn’t have any. In the tie-break, I was a little lucky because he had 5/2 and 4/0. But I survived at that moment, and I finally got the break in the second and then the match completely changed,” Nadal said
That killed the morale of his opponent who managed to follow Nadal’s tempo up until the midpoint of the second set. From that point on, the Spaniard was absolutely dominant on the court and didn’t have any troubles to close this contest.
This will be Nadal’s fifth finals at Flushing Meadows. In the previous four, he won three times, losing only to Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Medvedev and Nadal played just once so far, and that was recently. The Spanish ace demolished 10 years younger opponent in the finals of Rogers Cup, with 6-3, 6-0. But that was another situation, and this will be totally different. The match is scheduled for Sunday evening. Today’s program will see the finals of the ladies competition between Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu.
