World No.3 Daniil Medvedev ended top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz's title defence at the US Open as he defeated the Spaniard in four sets in the semifinal at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday. The Russian star defeated the Spaniard sensation 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in a little over three hours at the Flushing Meadows. With this Medvedev sets a US Open final rematch with Novak Djokovic, who cruised past America's Ben Shelton in the other semifinal clash.
Alcaraz looked on course of becoming the first man to clinch back-to-back US Open titles since Roger Federer achieved the feat with five titles in New York in 2004-08. But his run at the Flushing Meadows was cut short by the 2021 US Open Champion. Both the players kept winning their serves in the first set. Medvedev errored more in his first serve in the opening set but went on to clinch it in a tie-break 7-3. He showed greater dominance in the second set, breaking Alcaraz twice and going on to win the second set 6-1 before the 2022 champion bounced back. Alcaraz found two break points in the must-win third set to take it 6-3 before losing ground in the fourth one. Alcaraz lost his serve in the fourth one to hand Medvedev a good chance to seal the deal, which the Russian star did when he served for the match.
The Russian star now faces the Serb great Djokovic in what will be the rematch of the 2021 US Open. Djokovic registered an emphatic straight sets win over Ben Shelton in the earlier semifinal at the Arthur Ashe Stadium by 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
Notably, Medvedev stopped Djokovic from registering a calendar slam two years ago when the Serb was on course of becoming the first men's tennis star to achieve the feat since 1969. Djokovic had won all the previous three slams - Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in 2021 but fell short at the final hurdle in New York.
