Daniil Medvedev failed to replicate his US Open 2021 final victory against Novak Djokovic, losing to the Serbian in this year’s final at the Flushing Meadows in New York. The Russian star crashed to a 3-6 6(5)-7 3-6 defeat at the Arthur Ashe Stadium and couldn’t find a way past Djokovic.
The victory saw Djokovic clinch his fourth US Open title and also match Margaret Court’s record tally of 24 Grand Slams. During the match, Medvedev also had a bad fall near the net, with his opponent approaching to help him up. Speaking on that incident, he revealed that he didn’t feel anything, but he could have ‘hurt himself’.
“Yeah, I felt nothing. Actually, when the moment I fell, I was, like, Man, this could have been not dangerous but I could have hurt myself”, he said.
“So for maybe 30 seconds, one minute, I was, like, does it hurt, does it not hurt. There was other problem I had. In the third set it was growing, growing, growing, and at the same time, again, that’s how tennis is. Maybe I win the second set and I don’t think about the other problem I had. The pain goes less. When you lose it, the pain goes up. Again, I definitely didn’t lose because I had a small pain on my left shoulder”, he further added.
It was also the 50th anniversary of the US Open giving equal prize money to men and women’s singles champions. Djokovic and Coco Gauff took home 3 million dollars each for their title triumphs. Meanwhile, Medvedev and women’s runners-up Aryna Sabalenka earned 1.5 million dollars each.
After the match, Djokovic also paid tribute to Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash with his daughter in January 2020. Djokovic wore a t-shirt with ’24’ and ‘Mamba Forever’ written on it.
“I thought of doing this t-shirt eventually, if I get the chance to win the tournament, about seven days ago. I didn’t share it with anyone until a few days ago when I asked my people to help me out to make this shirt. Kobe was a close friend, we chatted a lot about the winner’s mentality. When I was struggling with injury and trying to make my comeback, work my way back to the top of the game, he was one of the people I relied on the most. He was always there for any kind of council, advice, any kind of support in the most friendly way”, Djokovic explained.
