The long-awaited men’s final of the US Open 2023 has arrived after two weeks of authentic emotion and highly entertaining duels. Next Sunday the two best players of the tournament will face each other: on the one hand, Novak Djokovic, in search of his 24th Grand Slam and; on the other, Daniil Medvedev, with the possibility of repeating his 2021 victory. Who will win?
He US Open 2023 It will have a high-level final since it will have the presence of the second and third seeds. Before the fall of Carlos Alcaraz at the hands of Daniil Medvedev, the New York tournament will continue to enjoy a final full of emotions due to the level that the Russian is showing throughout the tournament and even more so in the semifinal with the Spaniard. Medvedev will seek his second Grand Slam title on the same stage in which he won his first. Furthermore, the rival he will face will be the same: Novak Djokovic. On that occasion, the Russian denied him the possibility of completing the Calendar Grand Slambut now the Serbian will play without that extra pressure.
Nole, for his part, will arrive after having gotten rid of the local teenage idol, Ben Shelton. The 20-year-old did not have his best game in the semi-final against the Serbian, totally understandable given the opponent in front of him. Novak did not hesitate and reached the final of the US Open to continue adding Grand Slams and equal the 24 of Margaret Court. The only thing he knows for sure is that next Monday he will regain his status as number 1 in the world.
The path of Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic
The Russian reaches this final after having defeated O’Connell, Báez, de Miñaur, Rublev and Alcaraz. In his debut he had some disconnections that made him not bring out the best version of himself and he had to come back magnificently against Álex de Miñaur to avoid going home. The duel against his great friend Rublev was the one that had the most ups and downs, but always without letting go of the feeling of having the match in his hand. However, against Carlitos he had the best performance of him, showing himself to be a rock, organized and very comfortable leading the match. The Russian knew how to take his concentration to another level and leave the Murcian in a disadvantaged position that is neither comfortable nor usual for him. This will be of great help to him when facing the next number 1.
For his part, Djokovic has had a slightly smoother path to the final: Zapata, Djere, Gojo, Fritz and Shelton were his victims. The match that put the Serbian in the most trouble was precisely against his compatriot. Djere was about to give the bell when he was dominating the match 2 sets to 0. However, Djokovic is Djokovic and in a Grand Slam a match can become very long. Nole turned it around and, from that moment on, he did not lose another set in the rest of the matches.
Face to face and keys to the match
Next Sunday both players will arrive looking forward to an intense and powerful final, which is expected to be long and very tight. The two have met 14 times: 9 victories for Nole and 5 for Medvedev. The last of those duels was in the Dubai semifinal, where the Russian took the victory in straight sets, after four straight wins for Nole. Furthermore, it will not be the first time that they meet in a Grand Slam final. At the 2021 Australian Open Novak was the winner, while at the 2021 US Open it was Medvedev who lifted the title. Now the next number 1 arrives wanting revenge and will do so with less pressure than that year, so the Russian will have to continue with the level shown in the semifinal against Alcaraz.
The keys. There is no clear favorite in this duel, since the level of the Russian’s last game has balanced his chances of victory a little more. Medvedev will demand a lot from Nole from the back of the court and long rallies will not be a problem for the Russian, as he can become a complete wall. Medvedev will have to be aggressive and take risks if he wants to dominate the match against an experienced player like Nole. If the match goes long, this would benefit a Novak seasoned in marathons.
On the other hand, if Nole has a good match regarding the percentage of his first serves, Medvedev will have a very difficult time stalking his serve. Furthermore, Nole is a great returner as he already demonstrated against the heavy hitter Shelton, so the Russian will have to be very attentive and take advantage of the small percentage of errors that Djokovic leaves him. And not only that, the mental part will play a great role. And Nole is capable of keeping his nerve in extreme situations, so the Russian will have to follow his example and control his concentration well if he wants to have a chance. Thus, Nole will try to take revenge for that 2021 final against a Medvedev willing to continue closing the gap in his particular H2H.
2023-09-09 12:06:27
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