2023-09-10 01:07:24
The numbers show it, the US Open has something that upsets Novak Djokovic. Yesterday, after beating Ben Shelton in the semifinals, the tournament boasted of the ten finals that the Serbian has played in Flushing Meadows; a dozen fights for the title, but in which he has only triumphed three times. He won in 2011, 2015 and 2018, but lost the finals in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2021, the latter being the most painful of all.
That September 12, 2021, Djokovic was one match away from equaling what only Rod Laver has achieved, the Grand Slam, winning the four major titles in the same year. After beating Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne, Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland Garros and Matteo Berrettini at Wimbledon, Djokovic was 27-0 in Grand Slam and all he had to do was defeat the Russian again to live up to the exploits of ‘Rocketman’ in 1962 and 1969. And that September night two years ago, Djokovic lost the title with little chance. Of the 35 finals he has played, he has lost twelve, and only three of them in three sets. Leaving aside the beating he took from Rafael Nadal in Paris 2020, Medvedev’s (triple 6-4) was the most forceful of all and was marked by an iconic image.
Djokovic, who weeks before had failed to win Olympic gold and come close to the stratospheric record of Steffi Graf, who in 1988 won everything – four Grand Slams and gold at the Games – began to cry before playing the last game of the match. Djokovic had been seen in many situations, angry, tense, desperate, but he had never been seen completely consumed by pressure and anxiety. Through tears he lost the game and much more. Surely that night was his best – and last – opportunity to match Laver and that is why the defeat hurt him to the core.
This year the scenario is different and Djokovic already lost the privilege of matching Laver at Wimbledon, when he reached the final with Australia and Roland Garros under his arm but ran into Carlos Alcaraz, who prevented him from winning his fifth consecutive title in London.
The relationship with New York
The Murcian will not be in today’s final (10:00 p.m. Spanish time), but Medvedev will be, the last obstacle for Djokovic to rebuild his identity and relationship with New York. Because the Serbian seems to have regained magnetism with a city that he did not always have on his side. The 2015 final against Federer is there to remember, with the entire public against it, the incident with the line judge and his disqualification in 2020 and the controversy over his non-vaccination last year.
Everything seems to be behind us and that is why an American like Ben Shelton is even allowed to hesitate in front of 22,000 people. After beating him in the semifinals, he made a gesture with his hand as if hanging up a phone, mockingly imitating the American’s usual celebration.
With a win, Djokovic would set the Grand Slam bar at 24, two above Nadal, and would add a fourth US Open, in addition to putting himself 2,060 points above Alcaraz in the fight for number one. On the opposite side, there is Medvedev, who describes the situation perfectly. “It’s a challenge because he has 23 Grand Slams and I only have one,” admits the Russian, who will play his fifth major final, all against Djokovic or Nadal.
The confrontation with the ‘Big Three’ has deprived the Muscovite of having more titles and his dominance of the cement, where he has five Masters 1,000, eleven minor titles, in addition to some ATP Finals and the aforementioned US Open, is absolute. He will have to show if what happened two years ago was the result of Djokovic’s anxiety or if he has the talent and courage to defeat the Serb again in a duel of equals.
#Djokovic #memory #Open