Novak Djokovic is through to his ninth US Open
final after a five set win over Alexander Zverev
In Sunday's final, Djokovic will play Russian
second seed Daniil Medvedev
Victory for Djokovic would give him a record
21st major title and complete the calendar Grand Slam
Novak Djokovic has reached a record-breaking
ninth US Open final, after a tricky five-set victory over Olympic champion
Alexander Zverev.
After winning the Australian Open, French Open
and Wimbledon this year, the Serbian has a shot at becoming the first man to
win a calendar Grand Slam for 52 years after Rod Laver in 1969 and collect a
record breaking 21st major title, giving him one more than his great rivals
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Laver was watching on as Djokovic doggedly
fought his way through this nearly four-hour match.
As in his previous three rounds, the Serbian
had to come from a set down, but a clinical serving game and sloppy errors from
his fourth-seed opponent saw him prevail in what was his toughest match of the
tournament so far.
Djokovic, who has not played his best tennis
in New York, but still found a way to win, suffered a break of serve late in
the first set when he double-faulted while he was down 40-15. The rest of the
set raced away from him and just by keeping things tight, Zverev had a 1-0
lead.
The German was on a 16-match win streak,
including Olympic gold medal and Cincinnati title and had only lost one set all
tournament before Friday. Djokovic had a match on his hands.
In the second set, he snapped back into action,
upping the tempo and forcing Zverev to play loose and long shots. Zverev, who
was attempting to become the first men’s player to reach back-to-back US Open
finals since Djokovic in 2015 and 2016 was blown away. Djokovic was ruthless
and relentless, breaking early and breaking again. 6-2 and the match was all
square.
The third set was tight and contained some of
the best points this tournament has seen. But it was mired with Zverev
frustration, as fractional judgments on the ball tracking cameras went against
him. At least three times, the German looked up at the big screen in disbelief
as the little yellow dot clipped the thick white line. Djokovic was safe.
In what proved to be the final game of the
set, Zverev found himself 40-0 down while on serve. He lost rallies of 18, 32
and 12 shots, but then out of nowhere, took on Djokovic at his own game and won
rallies of 21 and...incredibly… 53 shots.
The longest rally of the tournament lasted
well over a minute but ultimately could not stop Zverev from losing the game
and the set. 2-1 Djokovic and one set from the final.
But he could not capitalise on the momentum.
Zverev broke Djokovic in the fourth game and sailed through the rest of the
fourth set, holding his serves while not really putting Djokovic under much
pressure to be broken again.
In the decider, Zverev was on the back foot
straight away, losing his first service game and finding himself 3-0 down.
He couldn’t make up for it. In fact, he only
made things worse for himself. Needlessly loose shots followed and Zverev lost
another service game. He looked at his coaching team for an answer, but by then
it was too late. Djokovic held serve to make it 5-0, Zverev made it 5-1 and
even managed to break Djokovic, to the delight of his fans.
But there would be no comeback. Djokovic shut
the door to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Afterwards, he showed his appreciation to the
boisterous crowd inside the Arthur Ashe stadium.
“Everyday you look for the motivation to do
the same things over and over again but it all pays off in this incredible
atmosphere,” he said.
When asked what he did when he was under
pressure, Djokovic said: “You are by yourself. There is no escape so you have
to find a way. There is no secret to success, it is just many things combined.
“Tennis is a beautiful sport, a very demanding
sport and you have to have your mind and body balanced if you are to compete
for the big titles.”
Djokovic, who already has three US Open titles
to his name, will play world number two Daniil Medvedev on Sunday evening after
the Russian beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets.