NEW YORK: Daniil Med­vedev dethroned defe­nding champion Carlos Alcaraz in a US Open thriller on Friday to set up a repeat of the final from two years ago against 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev defeated Alcaraz 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in a fascinating encounter under Arthur Ashe Stadium’s closed roof to reach his fifth major final and stop Alcaraz in his quest to become the first man to retain the title in New York since Roger Federer in 2008.

“I said I needed to play 11 out of 10. I played 12 out of 10, except from the third set,” said the 27-year-old Medvedev. “He [Alcaraz] is honestly just really unbelievable. To beat him you need to be better than yourself and I managed to do it.”

Medvedev’s upset denied tennis fans the Alcaraz v Djo­k­ovic blockbuster finish to the Grand Slam season they had been hoping to see.

A final involving former US Open champions Medvedev and three-time winner Djokovic on Sunday is one of obvious high quality but not the next chapter in tennis’s hottest rivalry of Djokovic and Alcaraz that has had the sport buzzing.

Djokovic did his part breezing past big-hitting American Ben Shelton 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), but Alcaraz could not crack the third-seeded Russian, who would bend but not break.

There will be some juicy subplots to Sunday’s final with Djokovic hunting a fourth US Open that would see him equal Margaret Court’s record haul of 24 Grand Slams and, along with it, a good measure of revenge on Medvedev.

The last time Djokovic and Medvedev clashed at the US Open was the 2021 final, where the Russian claimed his only major so far and denied the Serb a rare calendar Grand Slam.

“The challenge is you are playing a guy who has won 23 Grand Slams and I have only one,” said Medvedev, who also reached the 2019 US Open final losing to Rafa Nadal. “When I beat him here I managed to play better than myself and I need to do it again there is no other way.”

A contest featuring the number one and third-ranked players got off to a predictably tight start.

Medvedev held his nerve under constant pressure from Alcaraz in the opening set, elevating his level in tie-break to claim the final four points.

Alcaraz didn’t face a single break point in the first set, but Medvedev totally dominated the second set — dropping just two points on serve and breaking the top seed twice.

The 20-year-old Alcaraz kept his hopes alive with a break in the fourth game of the third set enough to ext­e­nd the match to a fourth set.

He saw three break points come and go at 1-1 before Med­vedev administered the fatal blow with a superb backhand return, breaking for a 4-2 lead.

A routine hold moved Medvedev to the cusp of victory, which he eventually sealed after an epic final game in which Alcaraz saved three match points but also failed to convert three break points.

“I thought that right now I am better player to find solutions when the match is not going in the right direction for you,” said Alcaraz. “But, you know, after this match, I gonna change my mind. I’m not mature enough to handle these kind of matches. So I have to learn about it.”

DJOKOVIC OUTWITS SHELTON

Djokovic ended the run of unseeded 20-year-old Shelton earlier on Friday to advance to his 10th US Open final in 17 appearances.

“Another Grand Slam final. I cannot be happier with where I am,” said Djokovic, who missed last year’s tournament at Flushing Meadows because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Serbian has now won 22 of his last 23 Grand Slam semi-finals. He captured the last of his three US Open titles in 2018.

Djokovic has reached the final at all four majors in the same year for the third time. He will try to claim three Grand Slams in the same season for the fourth time in his career.

“I’m obviously over the moon with the results so far on Grand Slams,” said Djok­ovic. “Playing in all four fin­als of all four Slams in a season is amazing. It’s the highest achievement I can think about when I start the season. That’s what I dream abo­ut, that’s what I really wanted, that’s where I want to be, in this kind of position.”

Djokovic’s only Grand Slam loss this year came at Wim­bledon when he was be­a­ten by Alcaraz in five sets.

Shelton began the US Open ranked 47th but will break into the top 20 for the first time on Monday.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2023