After yesterday’s thrilling all-teen final in the women’s singles, Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York prepared to host one of the tournament’s most anticipated matches between twenty-time major champion Novak Djokovic and number two seed Daniil Medvedev.
As soon as both players entered the stadium, Djokovic was greeted with a thunderous applause. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev’s reception was a bit more lukewarm. When comparing their head-to-head records, the Serbian was clearly billed as the pre-match favourite. Djokovic recently defeated Medvedev in the Australian Open final in straight sets.
Djokovic smashes his racquet in bout of fury
The world number one’s victory at the US Open this week followed a similar pattern. He struggled in the first set but recovered to win matches later on. Similarly, the Serb lost his first service game today, allowing Medvedev to take an early 2-0 lead.
Medvedev was a busy customer on serve, serving his way to a 6-4 victory in the first set. Since the end of the first set, Djokovic has been able to exert enough pressure on the Russian’s serve to force a pair of breakpoints.
The Russian, on the other hand, kept his serve tight and didn’t let Djokovic get back into the game. At 2-1 in the second set, Medvedev was adamant about avoiding allowing Djokovic to break his serve.
Djokovic came close to breaking his racquet after missing a volley but aborted his attempt as a ball boy sprinted after the ball.
Djokovic almost thinks about it but stops just in time ? #USOpen pic.twitter.com/KnrTgbJJLt
— Tennis GIFs ?? (@tennis_gifs) September 12, 2021
The World No. 1 lost his calm and shattered his racket after missing the return of serve. The Arthur Ashe audience, who had been supporting Djokovic up until that point, booed it.
#USOpen
— The Field (@thefield_in) September 12, 2021
Djokovic is letting some steam out during a tense second set.
? ESPN pic.twitter.com/J65uLGM3eF
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