Medvedev routs Auger-Aliassime to face Djokovic in US Open final

Update 1: Adds Djokovic match

New York, Sep 10 (EFE).- Daniil Medvedev cruised into the second US Open final of his career with a routine 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory Friday afternoon over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The world No. 2’s semifinal triumph on Arthur Ashe Stadium was similar to the rest of his mostly straight-forward victories this fortnight, with the lanky Russian outclassing his 15th-ranked opponent from the baseline and tallying five service breaks in three sets.

The players remained on serve through the first six games of the opener, but Medvedev drew first blood when he broke Auger-Aliassime’s serve at love to grab a 4-3 lead and then wrapped up that set a few games later with his fifth straight service hold.

In the first set, the Canadian managed to win only two of his 10 second-serve points, typically an indicator of which player has the edge in the baseline rallies.

Medvedev, however, sustained a rare dip in his level at the start of the second set, having his serve broken for the first and only time to fall behind 4-2.

Auger-Aliassime then had a golden opportunity to serve out the second set when he led 5-3, 30-0 and then held two set points later in that game, but instead Medvedev stormed back with relentless defending and rock-sold baseline play to recover the service break.

The loss of that game proved to be a crushing blow for the Canadian, who only won two more points the remainder of that set.

The third set was a mere formality, as Medvedev raced out to a 5-1 lead and wrapped up the victory in just over two hours when he forced Auger-Aliassime to commit a backhand error.

Although the Canadian’s winning percentage on second-serve points improved slightly after the first set, he only won 35 percent of those points for the match compared to 52 percent for Medvedev.

Medvedev’s 12-4 edge in aces also helped make his service games more stress-free than his opponent’s.

“It was a strange match a little bit in the second set,” the world No. 2 said in his on-court interview. “I think everyone felt like it was going to be one set all and then you never know where the match would go. I managed to save the set points and the match turned around completely.”

With the win, the 25-year-old Russian has advanced to his second US Open final and third Grand Slam championship match.

He has yet to win a major title, having lost in five sets to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 US Open final and in straight sets to Novak Djokovic earlier this year in the Australian Open championship match.

He will face off again Sunday in a Grand Slam final against the top-ranked Djokovic, who beat German world No. 4 Alexander Zverev Friday night in the second men’s singles semifinal.

Djokovic beat Zverev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to play in the final for the ninth time in 16 entries.

The final, to be played at the Arthur Ashe Stadium center court, will be their ninth as professionals with a 5-3 lead for the Serbian tennis player.

Djokovic, after the victory against Zverev, against whom he now has a 7-3 win lead, has a perfect 27-0 record in this season’s Grand Slam matches and is one away from winning all four tournaments in the same year for the first time since Australia’s Rod Laver did so in 1969.

The match, which lasted 3 hours and 34 minutes, left Djokovic with 41 winners and 49 unforced errors, proving that the world No. 1, who also posted 12 aces, with two double faults, could not play his best tennis against Zverev, who had beaten him in the Tokyo 2020 semifinals. EFE

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