Daniil Medvedev is ready to take on Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles US Open 2023 final on Sunday. Medvedev is aiming for the 2nd Grand Slam title of his career. His first one had come at the US Open itself back in 2021 when he co-incidentally beat Djokovic in the final.
Should Daniil Medvedev come up with an encore performance, he will equal a huge win record at the American Grand Slam which was last achieved by Novak Djokovic himself. The only two apart from Djokovic to have achieved this feat in the last 15 years are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It would put Medvedev on the path to achieving legendary status in the future.
Medvedev could become only 4th player since 2015 to win US Open multiple times
The US Open has notoriously become difficult for players to win over the years. So winning it multiple times is a rare achievement in the modern era. So with his consistency, Daniil Medvedev is set to enter an elite club of sorts.
Daniil Medvedev could win his 2nd US Open title, which would make him the first player to do so in 5 years. Ironically, it was Novak Djokovic who last achieved this, with his win in New York City back in 2015. Apart from that year, the Serbian legend took the title home in 2011 and 2018 respectively.
The man who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2015 final, Roger Federer has 5 titles of his own in NYC in the period of 2004-2008. While the other member of this club at present is none other than Rafael Nadal. The Spanish champion was crowned as the best in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019.
It is a staggering fact that the other US Open champions in the last 19 years have just been Juan Martin del Potro (2009), Andy Murray (2012), Marin Cilic (2014), Stanislas Wawrinka (2016), Dominic Thiem (2020) and Carlos Alcaraz (2022). If Daniil Medvedev wins, he would also become the first player in the 2020s decade to win the US Open title twice.
Is Daniil Medvedev Novak Djokovic’s true successor?
According to Boris Becker, the man who has coached Novak Djokovic in the past, that answer is a no. But Daniil Medvedev has managed to prove his critics, pundits, opponents and neutrals alike wrong in the US Open 2023. At the age of 27, Medvedev has already won a Grand Slam title and is ranked as the 3rd best player in the world with 20 ATP titles to his name.
The Russian is also making a strong case for himself by improving his performances in Grand Slams in the last 3 years. He has made it at least to the quarterfinals of the French Open, twice to the finals of the Australian Open, this year’s Wimbledon semifinals as well as 3 US Open finals in his career. As Daniil Medvedev has more found freedom and maturity in terms of handling his game and himself as seen in the US Open 2023, he can only go higher from here.
Daniil Medvedev managed to break his losing streak against Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals, which could give him a huge psychological boost. With the likes of Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune still far away from Grand Slam glory, Medvedev would be amongst the top 2 favorites to win the Nitto ATP Finals 2023 and the Australian Open 2024 in the near future.
