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Novak Djokovic Daniil Medvedev US Open ATP 2021

Daniil Medvedev reveals he was ‘100% ready to do better’ before beating Novak Djokovic in US Open final


Daniil Medvedev was the player responsible for ending the calendar Slam dreams of Novak Djokovic and now he’s explained more on how he did it 

Novak Djokovic was lead to tears after losing the 2021 US Open final to Daniil Medvedev as the pressure of chasing such a unique feat in the Open era of winning all the four Grand Slam mens singles title in the same year got too much for him. But now the Russian has explained more about how his mindset on that day helped clinch the title.

Speaking before his assault on the Montreal Masters 1000 Medvedev was asked about his preparation for matches against Djokovic, when he said,

“It depends on many things. It depends on the day and the match. My best example is when I played Novak at the final of the Australian Open. I had won 21 matches in a row, I was fully confident, I was on a cloud. It’s not that I didn’t prepare well for the match because I followed my routine. But in the end Novak won easily. After the match I thought, How is that possible? I was feeling good. Something was missing.

“Before the US Open (2021) final, I was in my mind 100% ready to do better. I’m not saying this is why I won, but I was better prepared.

“You can’t do that for each match. In the third round you would be exhausted because you would be thinking too much. But still you need to take seriously every match. All the players are good players. Of course, it depends on who you’re playing. It depends whether it’s a final or not. But I try to prepare for each match 100%.”

Daniil Medvedev is top seed this week in Canada but faces a blockbuster first match against the ATP’s most in form player  of 2022 Nick Kyrgios

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.