Daniil Medvedev stunned No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz with a phenomenal four set victory to set up a mouthwatering final vs. Novak Djokovic.
The Russian No. 3 seed held his nerve after Alcaraz tried, but failed, to fight back from two sets down.
After claiming the third, the Spaniard could not overcome the genius of Medvedev, who needed four match points to take the fourth, ultimately winning 7-6 6-1 3-6 6-3.
Immediately following the put his finger to his ear following the elimination of last year’s champion.
‘These kind of matches can happen. Even if I feel I’m a more mature, different player,’ Alcaraz said postgame.
The Russian placed one finger to each ear, in what was ostensibly a rebuke to the NYC crowd
The defending champion was staggeringly eliminated despite dropping one set prior to Friday
Djokovic will be looking to hang up on Medvedev’s hopes of a second U.S. Open title Sunday
‘He played really really great. A great game. I couldn’t find solutions. I thought right now I’m a better player to find solutions when the match isn’t going the right direction for you.
‘After this match, I’m gonna change my mind. I’m not mature enough to handle these kind of matches.’
Now, he has the opportunity to once more crush Djokovic’s US Open dreams. Medvedev defeated the Serb – and denied him a calendar slam – in the 2021 iteration.
It halted Djokovic from completing what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since Rod Laver in 1969.
Sunday will be Medvedev’s third Flushing Meadows Final. The Russian admitted he played a ’12 out of 10 game’ to get there.
‘To beat him you’ve got to be better than yourself and tonight I did it,’ he said of Alcaraz during his on-court postgame interview.
Medvedev held his nerve in the first set to win the tiebreaker 7-6 before taking the second 6-1
Carlos Alcaraz saved three match points but failed to save the fourth as he lost Friday night
Alcaraz quite often attempted to liven the crowd – pointing to his ear on multiple occasions
Despite something of a love-hate relationship with the Arthur Ashe crowd, he said they were ‘unbelievable’ before adding a small selection of unruly Alcaraz fans ‘can go to sleep now.’
Djokovic and Medvedev have played 14 times throughout their career, with the 23-time slam champion leading the head-to-head, 9-5.
Medvedev won their most recent encounter 6-4 6-4 at the Dubai Tennis Championships in March.
The Serbian sensation won the four prior, though they have not met at a slam since Medvedev’s stunning upset.
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