While Rafael Nadal recovers from injuries, only one king remains on the tour. No matter what anyone says about Alcaraz’s talent, he is very far from Novak Djokovic’s titles.

As well as Daniil Medvedev, who was considered a dark horse in the match against the Serb. Moreover, given the phenomenal winning streak of the 36-year-old legend.

But Medvedev again showed that he does not care about the credentials of his rivals.

Convenient opponent

An interesting fact, but the outstanding Serbian tennis player is the most convenient opponent for Medvedev among all the leaders of the world tour. Even when Novak is in first place in the ATP rankings, he still manages to periodically lose to our athlete.

Moreover, in 2021, it was Danya who shocked Djokovic in the US Open final, when he took the title and did not allow Nola to close the year with four victories at the majors – almost the only goal that has not yet been achieved in the career of the owner of 23 victories at the majors. Grand Slam tournaments.

Novak Djokovic / Photo: © Amin Mohammad Jamali / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

True, after that slap in New York, Novak won four personal matches in a row, strengthening his statistical advantage over the Russian. Their next match after such a difficult series of failures came in the semi-finals of the tournament in Dubai, which took place in March of this year.

Novak approached the tournament as an absolute favorite. Having won the opening tournament in Adelaide, and then having a phenomenal Australian Open, the Serb increased his winning streak to 20 matches.

Danya managed to take titles in Rotterdam and Doha before Dubai, but still his unstable play and especially the defeat at the first calendar “major” already in the third round left many questions.

Confident start

They had to answer them on the Russian’s favorite surface – hard court. Danya reacted in an unusually collected manner to everything that was happening on the court, which allowed him to cling to most of the balls during the reception. The spectators of this match truly felt the value of the long rallies that Medvedev loves so much.

Well, the quintessence of the game was the fifth game. The Serb had a natural advantage on his serve, but time after time he was forced to work with his opponent’s sharp responses. Danya took it to his feet, twisted awkward blows and forced the iron Novak to make mistakes. As a result, Medvedev earned a break, and then endured Djokovic’s slices ad infinitum, until, finally, one of these sliced ​​shots hit the net/

Having led by one game, our player did not let go of the situation and, in an extremely tense ending, still took the first set. Novak needed a reboot.

Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev / Photo: © Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Anadolu Agency / Gettyimages.ru

Dancing in front of the judge

However, the favorite failed to come to his senses. In the first game of the second set, the Serbian was exhausted by Medvedev’s long shots and, in the end, made a mistake again. When Dani’s technique works flawlessly and he controls the shots in long rallies, it is almost impossible to fight him. As it turned out, even the first racket of the world.

Novak did not understand what to do with such a counterpart, and gave vent to his emotions. In the sixth game, with the score 3:2, on the Russian’s serve, it seemed to the Serb that our player had a spade. Naturally, he tried to express his claims to the judge, but he was adamant. They even had to show an entertaining parody imitating Medvedev’s actions, but it was all in vain. In the end, it seemed that even the referee was confused, but no one received a punishment.

This emotional episode did not unsettle the Russian, and he still took his toll in a difficult and long game. And, perhaps, this remained the brightest moment of the semi-final. Despite all the attempts of the invincible Serb, he was unable to win back the break. And at the decisive moment, Dana was twice helped by the net, which absorbed Djokovic’s blows, after which Medvedev simply had to hit the court.

Novak Djokovic / Photo: © Amin Mohammad Jamali / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Nole met defeat with a smile on his face – like a true professional, the Serb understood that today he could not do anything with such an opponent. And even the long unbeaten streak did not frighten Medvedev. It seems that the more difficult it is, the more interesting it is for Daniel.