World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev had predicted that he would need to play 바카라11 out of 10바카라 to get past defending champion and top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open. (More Tennis News)
How did Medvedev rate his performance against Alcaraz in the semifinals in New York on Friday night?
바카라I played 12 out of 10,바카라 Medvedev declared after eliminating Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a rematch in the final against the indefatigable Novak Djokovic. Medvedev had won his lone major championship at Flushing Meadows in 2021 by defeating 23-time Slam winner Djokovic in that year바카라s title match.
That had prevented Djokovic from completing what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men바카라s tennis since 1969.
Even before the start of these two weeks, tennis enthusiasts had been anticipating a Djokovic versus Alcaraz showdown on the last day of the event. Theirs is an inter-generational rivalry 바카라 Djokovic is 36; Alcaraz 20 바카라 that has fascinated the tennis world in recent months.
A meeting in New York on Sunday would have been a rematch of the final of the Cincinnati Masters last month, won by Djokovic, and of the final at Wimbledon in July, won by Alcaraz, and of a semifinal at the French Open in June, won by Djokovic.
But it was not to be.
Medvedev stood in the way.
Alcaraz 바카라 who will relinquish the No. 1 ranking to Djokovic no matter what happens on Sunday 바카라 had been trying to become the first man to claim consecutive championships in New York since Roger Federer won five in a row from 2004-08.
Instead, it will be Medvedev, a 27-year-old from Russia, who will be appearing in his third US Open final in five years and his fifth major title match in all.
He lost to Rafael Nadal in New York in 2019, and to Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2021 and 2022.
바카라The challenge is that you play a guy that won 23 Grand Slams, and I have only one,바카라 Medvedev said, looking ahead to taking on Djokovic. 바카라When I beat him here, I managed to play better than myself, so I need to do it again. There is no other way.바카라
Medvedev had lost to Alcaraz twice this season, including in the Wimbledon semifinals. Those head-to-head results left Medvedev concerned.
바카라Before the match, for sure, a lot of doubts,바카라 the Russian said.
But he was up to the task.
There were moments of brilliance from both men, displays of athleticism, instincts and shotmaking that brought fans out of their seats.
Also often jumping up from his spot in a corner guest box at Arthur Ashe Stadium was Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion who is Alcaraz바카라s coach. Ferrero was looking nervous throughout the second set as the match appeared to be getting away from his guy, keeping up a constant patter of instructions and exhortations in Spanish.
It all helped, if only briefly. Alcaraz really got going in the third set, and his net-charging tactics 바카라 including plenty of serve-and-volleying 바카라 were effective. He won 54 of 70 points that he finished at the net.
Medvedev served about as well as ever. He saved eight of the nine break points he faced and then often got the better of the match바카라s shortest points, winning 101 of the 174 exchanges that lasted four strokes or fewer.
And Alcaraz was not quite at his usual best from the baseline.
바카라We don바카라t see him do this often,바카라 Medvedev said. 바카라He started to miss a little bit.바카라
The final twist came with Alcaraz serving down 3-2 in the fourth set. It was a lengthy game that lasted nearly 15 minutes, filled with a ton of impressive returning by the lanky Medvedev, whose long arms seem to get his racket to everything.
When one Medvedev return landed out, Alcaraz looked up and put his hands together, as if to say, 바카라Thank you!바카라
But Alcaraz missed one volley, and then couldn바카라t quite deliver as he reached to try to get to a dipping, angled backhand return. That gave Medvedev the lead and an edge he would not relinquish, even if he did need to put aside a pair of double-faults while serving for the victory as some spectators called out to distract him.
바카라That바카라s not so nice. But I바카라m happy it didn바카라t help them,바카라 Medvedev said. 바카라They can go to sleep now.바카라
(With AP inputs)
