Saturday, November 6th, 2021
Djokovic with a tennis history
Tired Zverev collects badly fixed Paris bankruptcy
Nothing will happen with the next final for Alexander Zverev. The best German tennis professional fails in Paris in the semifinals, against the US Open winner Daniil Medvedev he looks very tired. The Russian will now face Novak Djokovic. The world number one is already certain of a record.
Alexander Zverev missed the final at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris and missed the chance for his sixth title this year. The 24-year-old Olympic champion from Hamburg had to admit defeat to the Russian US Open winner Daniil Medvedev in 80 minutes with 2: 6, 2: 6. This means that the US Open final between Medvedev and world number one Novak Djokovic will be relaunched in the final on Sunday. Djokovic won his semifinals 3: 6, 6: 0, 7: 6 (7: 5) against the Pole Hubert Hurkacz.
Just six days after his victory at the tournament in Vienna, Zverev never found his game against Medvedev. The tired-looking German number one played two service games in the first set, after another break of the world number two in the second round, he smashed his racket in frustration. Medvedev then repeatedly chased Zverev across the court – and thus presented his unfocused-looking opponent with major problems. With the next break, Medvedev, who had won the previous year’s final against Zverev, made the preliminary decision. After 1:18 hours he transformed his first match point.
Medvedev defeated the 34-year-old Serb in New York. Due to the defeat in the final, Djokovic missed the Grand Slam – winning the four most important tournaments in a calendar year. Previously, he had won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon, but also failed to achieve the desired Olympic victory due to the semi-final defeat against Zverev. Zverev had won the tournament in Vienna a week ago, but had no chance against Medvedev, who was second in the rankings.
By moving into the final, it is already certain that Djokovic will be number one in the world rankings for the seventh time at the end of a season and will thus set a record. He shared the record so far with the American Pete Sampras, who had finished the season as number one for six consecutive years from 1993 to 1998.
“That was a dream, Pete has been my idol since I was young,” said Djokovic: “I’m very proud to be number one. What a match to do that.” Djokovic was already in first place in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2020 at the end of the year. The Spaniard Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019) and the Swiss Roger Federer (2004 to 2007, 2009) each achieved this five times.