Andy Roddick acknowledges Daniil Medvedev’s “Flawless Strategy” against Novak Djokovic at the 2021 US Open finals
Daniil Medvedev
World No.2 Daniil Medvedev put an end to World No.1 Novak Djokovic’s incredible run at the Grand Slams in 2021. Not only did the Russian win his first Major title, but he also shattered the Serb’s hopes of winning the Calendar Slam.
Medvedev beat Djokovic in three sets to win the 2021 US Open and in the process, became only the third Russian to win a Grand Slam title after Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open) and Marat Safin (2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open).
Although Djokovic was humbled in the finals, it was also important to acknowledge his herculean efforts in winning the first three Grand Slams of the year and. In the end, the 34-year-old’s 27-match winning streak at the Majors in 2021 was snapped.
Recognising the monumental effort by the top seed, former World No.1 and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on Twitter.
“Flawless match strategy by Medvedev. He deserved the win today. We still need to acknowledge how phenomenal Novak was this year (and for 15 years). Was fun to watch. Congrats to both!!”
Meanwhile, a dejected 20-time Grand Slam winner, Djokovic opined that he was physically spent to even compete against an inform Russian.
“The other hand, I was just below par with my game,” Djokovic said. “My legs were not there. I was trying. I did my best. Yeah, I made a lot of unforced errors. I didn’t have – no serve really.”
“If you’re playing someone like Medvedev who hits his spots so well, just aces, gets a lot of free points on his first serve, you’re constantly feeling pressure on your service games. I was below par with everything, to be honest. So just one of these days where unfortunately, yeah, wasn’t meant to be.”
Unfortunately, for the top-ranked player, he failed at the final hurdle, which prevented him from joining the elite company of Rod Laver and Don Budge, as the only men to have won the Calendar Slam.
Djokovic still leads Medvedev in ATP rankings
While Djokovic is still holding the numero uno position in the ATP rankings, the 2021 US Open is just about 1500 points behind the Serb. It will be interesting to see how both players plan their schedules for the remaining part of the season.
At the moment, it is expected that both players will be missing from the upcoming Laver Cup in Boston.
Also Read: WATCH: Novak Djokovic smashes his racquet in the 2021 US Open final
Vivek Krishnan
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