Daniil Medvedev is one set from upsetting Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the US Open final. The winner will play 23-time major champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday for the title.
Medvedev entered the match having lost his past two Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings against the Spaniard this season. Alcaraz won all five sets they played in those clashes and did not lose more than three games in any of those sets.
But despite a clear, successful net-rushing tactic that has seen Alcaraz win 27 of 35 of net points (77%) through two sets, Medvedev leads 7-6(3), 6-1. Alcaraz is 9-1 in five-setters and 5-0 at Flushing Meadows, but the 20-year-old has never rallied from two sets down.
Medvedev is closing in on a rematch of the 2021 US Open final, in which he claimed his maiden major crown by stunning Djokovic in the final. It had been a subpar North American hard-court summer by the 27-year-old’s standards, losing in the quarter-finals in Toronto and the third round in Cincinnati.
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But the third seed has found his best tennis at the season’s final major, and has not allowed the hype around a potential Djokovic-Alcaraz championship match to break his focus. Medvedev has shown great intensity in his footwork and his ball-striking, especially off the forehand wing. That has kept the top seed from dictating with as much comfort as usual, leading to errors in key moments.
With Tom Brady, Kevin Durant and Charlize Theron headlining the celebrities watching from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, there was little to separate Medvedev and Alcaraz in the first set. But in the tie-break, Alcaraz hit a poor drop volley, allowing Medvedev to chase down a forehand and earn the ultimately decisive mini-break.
Alcaraz was unable to reset in time to start off the second set well. Despite consistently taking advantage of his opponent's deep court positioning early by moving forward, the Spaniard hit a forehand drop shot into the net to relinquish an immediate break and was never able to earn it back. Everything was going right for Medvedev, who claimed another break with an incredible one-handed backhand stab on the full stretch. World feed commentator Robbie Koenig called a “moment of magic”.