The question of the “GOAT”, the best player in history, is not the only one to shake up the small world of men’s tennis. Behind the fight between the Serbian Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal and the Swiss Roger Federer, the members of the “Next Gen” (the new generation) are also struggling to achieve a completely different goal: to be the first young to steal from the incredible trio a title of the Grand Slam, one of the four major tournaments of the circuit.
By qualifying, Friday, September 10, for the final of the US Open after a demonstration against the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime (6-4, 7-5, 6-2), Daniil Medvdev offered himself a third chance to achieve it, after failing in the final in 2019 at the US Open and this year at the Australian Open.
Sunday September 12 (from 10 p.m. Paris time), he will face Novak Djokovic, striker in the semi-finals, Friday at the end of the suspense, of the German Alexander Zverev (4-6, 6-2, 6-4 , 4-6, 6-2), and who did not hesitate to publicly tackle the new generation, during the last Australian Open, in January. “With all due respect, they still have a lot of work to do”, had explained the Serbian, a few days before winning the title.
Interfere in the fight between the “Big three”
Even more than other young people with long teeth like Alexander Zverev, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or his compatriot Andrey Rublev, the Russian seems today, at 25, to be the one who has the most cards in his hand to interfere in the fight between the “Big three”, the three monsters of tennis, and why not succeed them.
Ranked number 2 in the world, he has always been a regular in Grand Slam tournaments. In the fall of 2020, he won the Masters, a tournament bringing together the best players of the year. “He’s the most pragmatic of all. When the game drags on it can be a disadvantage for some. It’s a real good thing for Daniil thanks to his coverage at the baseline and the place he takes at the net ”, reveals Jean-René Lisnard, who trained the player in his academy in Cannes, the Elite Tennis Center.
Facing him, the Russian will however find a Novak Djokovic in search of a record: the latter will play to pass in front of his Spanish and Swiss colleagues in the number of Grand Slam tournaments won (the three are at 20 each for the moment) and for being the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four Majors in the same season.
What to add pressure to the pressure for Medvedev? “I don’t see this context disturbing Daniil, answers Jean-René Lisnard. This record only concerns Djokovic and only Djokovic. Daniil is not going to think about it and just play his final. “” I don’t really care, Medvedev confirmed after his victory in the semi-finals. It is more him that this scenario affects. Sure he’s going to feel the pressure, but on the other hand, that’s what’s going to make him even better in tough times. “
“He never fails the competition three times at the same stage”
With the calm and nonchalance characterizing him, Medvedev thus finds the final of the US Open two years after revealing himself at the same stage against Rafael Nadal. The public had then discovered his forehand hit like a golf shot, his backhand with explosive simplicity and his balls played all or almost without effect. “Even I when I sometimes see my technique on TV I say to myself ‘Uh, that’s pretty weird’! “, he confided in 2019.
Above all, he had shown that he was able to sublimate himself by alienating the public, a bit like a Djokovic. On the “palmares” of the lanky Russian of 1.98 m during this tournament: a towel thrown in the face of a ball collector, a racket throw and a middle finger along his temple. But also humorous reconciliations with the fans during the post-final speech.
Posed in his game and agile on the ground given his size, Daniil Medvedev will have to take advantage of the two finals of a major tournament he played to try to hit the jackpot at the US Open. In February at the Australian Open, already against Djokovic, he had not taken the measure of the event and had lost in three sets (7-5, 6-2, 6-2).
“He never fails the competition three times in a row at the same stage. From the start, I have been saying that he is the one who will win this tournament ”, warns Jean-René Lisnard. In case of victory, the Russian would consolidate his second place in the world. With the objective, more and more concrete, to win the first and become the true successor of the “Big three”.