By Ava Wallace
He lunged across the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium to stay loose before the last game of this tournament because it took every last bit of Novak Djokovic’s peerless mobility to do what he was doing.
The 36-year-old Serb has rarely looked his age as much as he had throughout Sunday’s three-hour-16-minute match with Daniil Medvedev, a Russian nine years his junior. The physical struggle was quite fitting.
When Medvedev whipped one last forehand into the net, Djokovic shelved the apparent battle of the past few hours and nonchalantly walked to the net to share a handshake and a chuckle with Medvedev before stretching his arms wide, then curling into a ball on the ground.
His 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win had made him the oldest man to win the US Open title in the open era, which began in 1968.
With it, he clinched his 24th grand slam trophy, widening the gap between his haul and Rafael Nadal’s 22 and tying Australian Margaret Court’s all-genders record, most of which she won before the open era began. Djokovic’s tally stands at 10 Australian Open titles, seven at Wimbledon, four at New York and three at the French Open.
It was his third major title this season, which joined 2011, 2015 and 2021 as his three-slam years.
Novak Djokovic celebrates his US Open win with daughter Tara.Credit: Getty
Medvedev, 27, had played spoiler in 2021, capturing the US Open when Djokovic was going for a calendar-year grand slam, but not Sunday (Monday morning AEST). This time, Djokovic held the advancing generation at bay just a little bit longer.
He was back holding the trophy one year after he missed the US Open because of travel restrictions prohibiting those unvaccinated against the coronavirus from entering the country.
Medvedev feigned disbelief during his post-match interview on the court.
“First of all, I want to ask Novak: ‘What are you still doing here? Come on!’ ” he said, laughing. “I don’t know when you are planning to slow down a little bit, but congrats to you and your team. I feel like I have not a bad career, but I have 20 titles – you have 24 grand slams. Wow.”
To mark his 24th grand slam win, Novak Djokovic donned a Kobe Bryant T-shirt after claiming the US Open crown.Credit: AP
When he climbed down from the stands where he had gone to hug his family, Djokovic paid tribute not to tennis history but to Kobe Bryant. Djokovic has spoken of the late basketball star as an inspiration and a mentor, and when he shed his match shirt, he replaced it with one that featured Bryant’s face on the front and his jersey number on the back: 24.
“I don’t know where to start. It obviously means the world to me. I’m kind of repeating myself, but I have to say it every time: I’m really living my childhood dream,” Djokovic said.
“I never imagined that I would be here, standing with you, talking about 24 slams. I never thought that, but the last couple of years I thought I have a chance. Why not grab it, the chance to make history, if it’s presented?”
Djokovic had to do more than grab his chance at history – he had to outlast Medvedev first.
The first point of the match foretold its brutality for the players (and maybe even some fans tiring on their couches at home): It took 19 shots to finish. One point after that, they played a 23-point rally, then a 10-point rally, and surely all the folks in Arthur Ashe Stadium began to think their expensive tickets were actually bargains on a minute-by-minute basis.
Medvedev served wildly in the second game to give up the early break, and that was all Djokovic needed to plod on toward the first-set victory.
He continued as the steadier player halfway through the second set, playing high-efficiency tennis as Medvedev pressed to be more aggressive and ended up paying for it with unforced errors.
Then, midway through the set, the match got a little funky. All those long points at the end of a long two weeks finally caught up to Djokovic.
With Medvedev serving at deuce and the score knotted at 3, they played another 31-shot rally, and the Serb crumpled to the ground near the baseline for a moment before getting back up. His legs looked like cinder blocks for the rest of the set, causing Djokovic to alternately buckle like a newborn foal or rest his hands on his knees.
But given plenty of opportunities to take advantage, Medvedev found himself out of position as often as Djokovic found himself bent over, heaving to catch his breath.
The Russian had 17 unforced errors in the set. He managed to work his way to set point in the second-set tiebreaker and flubbed on that, too, sending a backhand into the net on Djokovic’s second serve.
As a surprise, it was Medvedev who called the trainer to work on his shoulder when Djokovic won the set after a mere 1 hour 44 minutes.
By then, their fatigue had become a comedic quirk of the match.
Early in the second set, Medvedev slipped and went sprawling in the service box, falling dramatically enough that Djokovic actually climbed over the net - it was funny - and offered his opponent a hand.
Medvedev waved him off with a single hand without moving the rest of his body. He would take a few more moments on the ground, thanks.
Djokovic sped through the third set after that. He had outlasted his opponent one more time.
Washington Post
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