- Russian wins first major tournament after 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory
- Rod Laver in 1969 was last man to win all majors in calendar year
As Daniil Medvedev stood in the tunnel of Arthur Ashe Stadium before the US Open final, the last man standing in front of Novak Djokovic’s historic grand slam attempt, he was asked in his pre-match interview exactly what he learned from losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in February. He responded calmly and without hesitation: “Well, I learned that I have to be much better.”
Over the following two hours he simply was. For the majority of his third major final Medvedev bullied Djokovic from the baseline, he erected a defensive wall on his half of the court and he served as if he was standing from a tree. In the process Medvedev thwarted Djokovic’s shot at immortality, outplaying the world No 1 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win his first major title at the US Open.
