Daniil Medvedev shatters multiple records en-route to maiden Grand Slam title in New York

Daniil Medvedev shatters multiple records en-route to maiden Grand Slam title in New York

Daniil Medvedev

World No.2 Daniil Medvedev finally got his hands on his maiden Grand Slam trophy, as he produced a clinical performance in the finals of the 2021 US Open against World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

The Russian not only managed to upset the 27-match winning streak of the Serb at the Majors in 2021, but he also shattered Djokovic’s dream of winning the Calendar Slam.

On the auspicious occasion of his third wedding anniversary, the second seed broke several records in front of a packed house at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Although Medvedev lost in the two previous finals of a Grand Slam, he stuck to his guns and avenged his defeat at the Australian Open, earlier in the year to Djokovic. In the process, the second seed beat the top seed for the first time ever in a Grand Slam. He has lost to Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2019 as well.

Moreover, he also became only the third Russian male to win a Grand Slam after Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1996 French Open & 1999 Aus Open) and Marat Safin (2000 US Open & 2005 Aus Open).

The 25-year-old also became only the second player born in the 1990’s to win a Major title in the men’s singles category. The first one to do so was Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who ended up winning the US Open in 2020. While Medvedev was born in 1996, Thiem was born in 1993.

Medvedev replicates Lendl’s feat

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev

Furthermore, the Russian only dropped one set on his way to the US Open title. The lapse came in the quarterfinals against Botic van de Zandschulp. As a result, Medvedev is now only the second man since the legendary Ivan Lendl (1987) to lose a single set en-route to the title in New York.

After his heroics in New York, Medvedev is just about 1500 points shy of Djokovic in the ATP rankings. With a few marquee events lined-up for the year, who knows if the new US Open champion would go onto become the top-ranked player in his career for the first time.

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