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      With Crowds Back at the U.S. Open, Young Stars Give Them a Show

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      Novak Djokovic failed to win a Grand Slam, but there was a sense of renewal, exciting new players named Raducanu and Fernandez, and a sense that tennis is in capable hands.To fully appreciate the unmasked roars of 2021 at the U.S. Open, it was best to have experienced the silence and vast empty spaces of 2020.It was the contrast that made such a difference this year in the collective mood.“The crowd was the third player this year,” said Chris Evert, one of tennis’s grande dames, who played in her first Open in 1971. “The crowds at the U.S. Open have always been like this, but this year they just seemed louder.”Established stars like Novak Djokovic had missed the noise. Relative newcomers like Emma Raducanu were hearing it for the first time. The fans had missed the experience.The surprise upon everyone’s return to the tournament was how forcefully the newest generation of rising stars would storm the gates.Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were absent at once for the first time in 25 years, and though it seemed that void would be much too big to fill, the young players piled in gleefully. With so many stars missing and so much prime tennis real estate available, young Americans like Frances Tiafoe and Jenson Brooksby became fixtures on the main show courts, playing thrilling matches. The Spanish 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, playing in his first U.S. Open, reached the quarterfinals and soon had fans chanting “Carloooooos” as loudly as they usually chant “Rafaaaaaa.”“I definitely think guys are trying extra hard because there isn’t Roger and Rafa,” Tiafoe said. “I see guys foaming in the mouth. Pretty funny to watch. I’m in the locker room cracking up.”Attendance was down from 2019, the most recent year when fans were permitted to attend. But volume and emotion were up, and the fans who watched from home or streamed back through the gates — after showing proof of vaccination — were rewarded with one of the most exceptional tournaments in tennis’ long history.“The crowd was the third player this year,” said Chris Evert, a former player who is now a broadcaster.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesAt one end of the continuum was Djokovic, 34, one of the biggest stars in global sport, chasing a rare Grand Slam — victories in all four major tournaments in the same year — and the crowning moment of a long career spent in pursuit of his rivals, Federer and Nadal.At the other end was the women’s singles tournament, which was improbably commandeered by the 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez and the 18-year-old Raducanu. But both singles tournaments turned out to be surprises. The top-ranked Djokovic was beaten soundly in Sunday’s final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 by Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed. Medvedev, a gangly trilingual Russian, had never defeated Djokovic in a best-of-five-set match and was trounced in straight sets when they met in this year’s Australian Open final. But he was the fresher, more reliable player in New York, serving and returning better than Djokovic, who looked weary and off target. At one stage, he smashed a racket in frustration, and at another looked ready to smash a ball in the direction of a ball girl before stopping his swing.But this was still No. 1 vs. No. 2 for the trophy. Both Fernandez and Raducanu were unseeded, and Raducanu had to qualify for the main draw. But they surprised more experienced players round after round, in very different fashion, to set up perhaps the most improbable women’s singles final in the four Grand Slam tournaments. Raducanu, playing in only her second major tournament, prevailed on Saturday, but the players will long be linked for the spirit they conveyed together.Their appeal snowballed beyond their home markets — Britain for Raducanu and Canada for Fernandez. Fernandez’s parents have roots in Ecuador and the Philippines; Raducanu’s parents have roots in Romania and China, and on Saturday night Raducanu showed she was made for 21st century tennis stardom when she recorded a video message in fluent Mandarin for the Chinese audience.But on the ground in New York, Raducanu and Fernandez’s arrival on center stage created a sense of discovery and wonder. One long shot in a U.S. Open women’s final is rare enough, but two long-shot teenagers made it a scene. “There was a pent-up desire of people wanting to get out and wanting to experience events in person and time with family and friends and just to celebrate human greatness,” said Ellen Cummings, a fan from New Canaan, Conn., on Sunday before the men’s final.“I really turned out this year for Novak,” she said, “but the women’s tournament was like this unbelievable bonus. What Raducanu and Fernandez did was such a surprise and such a delight to watch.”Leylah Fernandez, left, and Emma Raducanu made surprise runs to the women’s singles final. Raducanu advanced through the qualifying draw to win the tournament.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesThere has been much to bemoan of late and professional tennis has hardly been immune: from quarantines and isolation to Naomi Osaka’s existential crises that have often left her in tears in news conferences as she strained to manage her public role and private struggles in a sport she plainly excels at but that seems to bring her little delight at this stage.But the 2021 U.S. Open brought a sense of renewal and a sense that, in spite of it all, some of the kids were more than all right, able to summon the energy and optimism to take center stage and make the shots that mattered most. They lit up the largest tennis stadium in the world and then read the room beautifully, with Fernandez hitting just the right note as she talked about New Yorkers’ resilience on Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.“We’ve witnessed such heaviness and pressure in the last year,” Evert said. “Such expectations and intensity and these two girls brought joy.”Youth, at this U.S. Open at least, was not wasted on the young, but the veterans reveled in the experience, too. On Sunday, Samantha Stosur, a 37-year-old Australian, won the women’s doubles title with her partner, Zhang Shuai of China, over the teenage Americans Coco Gauff and Caty McNally, two more young players full of hope and promise.It was a return to Arthur Ashe Stadium for Stosur, who won the 2011 U.S. Open singles title, upsetting Serena Williams in the final. Stosur is now very near the end of her career and has long been on the road, away from her family, because of the pandemic-era travel restrictions that make it difficult for Australians to return home.Samantha Stosur, top left, and Zhang Shuai, top right, in their match against Caty McNally, bottom left, and Coco Gauff.Al Bello/Getty Images“This year has been tough for everyone,” Stosur said. “This is the last two days of a trip that’s going to be four months for me away from home. I haven’t done that for a long, long time. To be going home with this trophy just means the absolute world to me. It makes everything worth it.”Stosur, like several other leading Australian players, did not make the journey to New York last year because of the pandemic. She had seen this year’s U.S. Open billboards with the slogan “The Greatest Return.” “Absolutely on point for this event this year,” Stosur said.David Mihm, a Djokovic fan from the small city of Eveleth, Minn., who had never attended a professional tennis match, bought a ticket for the men’s singles final after Djokovic won the penultimate leg of the Grand Slam at Wimbledon. “Right after the Wimbledon final, I thought this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’ve got to just go for it in case he does make it,” Mihm said.“I guess I was waiting for something real special,” he said.He did not get a Djokovic victory, but he did get something special. This U.S. Open, full of surprises and full of life, spilled over with signs of renewal and tennis’s bright future. Even Djokovic, who came one victory short of the sport’s ultimate achievement, chose not to end on a down note. A year ago, he had eliminated himself from the U.S. Open, inadvertently striking a lineswoman in the throat with a ball he hit in frustration after losing his serve early in his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta. Djokovic was defaulted from the match, played in an all but empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.Long the villain in New York, he returned this year, fighting his way through a series of intense tussles on the same court, gradually hearing more and more crowd support as he worked his way to the final. Microphone in hand, he made his appreciation clear through the disappointment on Sunday. “You guys touched my soul,” he said. “I’ve never felt like this in New York.”He was hardly alone in that sentiment this year at the U.S. Open, a tournament that felt all at once, both smaller and bigger than itself, and tennis too. More

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      Daniil Medvedev Wins U.S. Open, Novak Djokovic Falls Short of Grand Slam

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      Novak Djokovic said he was going to play this match as if it were the last of his career, that he was going to pour every ounce of his heart and soul into trying to do what few thought could ever be done again.It was not enough.With a startling display of power and creativity, Daniil Medvedev upset Djokovic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in the final of the U.S. Open on Sunday, ending Djokovic’s bid to become the first man in 52 years to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year. It was one last twist in a tournament that overflowed with stunning performances.For at least another year, Rod Laver will remain the lone member of the most exclusive club in modern men’s tennis, and the 2021 U.S. Open will forever belong primarily to an 18-year-old British woman named Emma Raducanu, who went from being the 150th-ranked player to a Grand Slam champion in the most unlikely tennis tale of them all.This was supposed to be Djokovic’s moment, the day that he would finally surge past Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and officially become the greatest player of all time.Djokovic was unable to put together any sustained momentum in the match, and was broken in his first service game.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesInstead, whatever spirits pull the strings of this uniquely exasperating sport intervened in the form of a lanky 25-year-old Russian, a neighbor of Djokovic’s in their adopted home of Monaco who is sure now to create any number of awkward encounters at Monte Carlo’s cafes and grocery stores and at the local tennis club where both of them train.Medvedev started fast, breaking Djokovic’s serve in the first game of the match and giving Djokovic few chances to take the first set. That was not supposed to matter. Djokovic, 34, had been shaky early in matches for two weeks, before raising his level and storming back for win after win. Surely, he would flip the script once more.And he had the opening, three break points on Medvedev’s first service game, and then another with Medvedev serving at 1-2 in the second set, when the sound system malfunctioned and interrupted one of Medvedev’s serves, giving him a fresh chance to save the game.When Medvedev took that point and then another, the weight of it all finally broke the man who had seemed unbreakable. Djokovic dismantled his racket with a violent smack on a court that had delivered him so many championships before.A game later, Medvedev curled a backhand onto Djokovic’s toes as he charged to the net, and when Djokovic’s volley floated long, the chance to crush a dream was just a few more games and one set away.“He was going for huge history,” Medvedev said. “Knowing that I managed to stop him, it definitely makes it sweeter.”Djokovic had beaten Medvedev most recently in a lopsided battle in February for his ninth Australian Open title, a moment that seems a lifetime ago, when no one was talking about anyone winning a Grand Slam.Medvedev, 25, is one of the younger stars of men’s tennis who has been looking up at the Big Three of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesAnd yet, when the draw for the U.S. Open came out two weeks ago, it looked daunting for Djokovic. Matteo Berrettini, the big-serving Italian, loomed in the quarterfinals. Alexander Zverev, the talented German who knocked off Djokovic at the Olympics and was the hottest player in the world at the start of this tournament, was likely to be his semifinal foe. And if Djokovic could get through those players, he was most likely going to meet Medvedev, the world’s second best player, whose game, a beguiling mix of power and spins, seems to grow more dangerous with each passing month. He was a fitting final obstacle for Djokovic in the hunt for their sport’s biggest prize.Medvedev stands 6 feet 6 inches tall and is as skinny as a bamboo pole. At first glance, he looks like nobody’s idea of a professional athlete. He will scurry around the court creating shots that few can see coming, then bomb an ace or pound a flat backhand down the line.Coming into the tournament, conventional wisdom held that the only way to beat Djokovic was to take the racket out of his hands with so many unreturnable balls that one of the greatest defenders in the sport would not be able to survive the onslaught.Medvedev did that and so much more, pushing Djokovic back on his heels and handcuffing him at the net on those handful of points that decide every tennis match, with history on the line and 23,000 fans desperate to witness it.For Djokovic, the loss delivered a disappointment that practically no one but Serena Williams could understand. She had been the last player to enter the year’s final major championship with a shot at the Grand Slam. She, too, fell to an underdog, Roberta Vinci of Italy, on the same court in Arthur Ashe Stadium, in the 2015 semifinals.On a personal level, this loss most likely stung Djokovic in a way that Williams may never have felt. Djokovic has spent most of his adult life chasing legends who claimed this sport as their own just a few years before he burst onto the scene. He proved early on that he could be the equal of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, then sagged back, only to come back stronger and repeat the cycle time and again.The fans embraced the defeated Djokovic at the end, and he was grateful.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesHe entered this tournament tied with Federer and Rafael Nadal in the race for the most career Grand Slam titles, with 20. He desperately wants that record, to seal his legacy as the greatest player in tennis history.Djokovic’s compatriots from Serbia worship him, but he has been mostly unloved elsewhere, until Sunday, when seemingly everyone wanted to see him deliver. Djokovic has spent more time ranked as the world No. 1 than Nadal or Federer, and is the only one who has a winning record against those two chief rivals. Yet nothing would declare him as the greatest of all like winning the four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year.Federer and Nadal have never come close, and most likely never will. This year, Djokovic beat Nadal in his kingdom in Paris, where he has won 13 French Open titles. Then Djokovic captured Wimbledon for a sixth time in July, on the grass that Federer has long treated like his front lawn.He could not win the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo this summer for the fourth jewel of the so-called Golden Slam, something only Steffi Graf has accomplished.Djokovic soaked up the adoration of his fellow athletes in the Olympic Village, but lost to to Zverev in the semifinals and then to Pablo Carreño Busta in the bronze medal match. The heat and weight of the journey were beginning to take their toll.Djokovic took nearly a month off from competition, then came to New York to finish his mission, to make things right. A year ago he swatted a ball in anger after losing the first set of his fourth-round U.S. Open match, without any regard for where the ball was headed. It rocketed toward the throat of a line judge, requiring an automatic disqualification.Djokovic’s first six matches at the 2021 U.S. Open followed a mostly familiar pattern — some early shakiness, including losses in first sets of four consecutive matches, before Djokovic the assassin emerged to take care of business.It took five sets against Zverev in the semifinal. When that was over, and there was just one match to go, Djokovic embraced the size of the moment at hand — with his heart and his soul and everything else he had. Surely, that would be enough.Tennis, though, can be so hard sometimes, even for the world’s greatest player, who had made it look so easy for so long.“My heart is filled with joy, and I am the happiest man alive because you guys made me feel that way on the court,” Djokovic told the crowd. Ben Solomon for The New York TimesHe refused to go quietly, standing firm late in the third set and saving match point as Medvedev succumbed to the pressure of closing out his first Grand Slam title. He produced two double faults and an ugly backhand into the net, and Djokovic rode the deafening cheers of the crowd to battle back to within a game.It had taken so long for the fans to get behind him, an entire career really, but now they were there, and as Djokovic sat in his chair, he smiled at the throngs, teared up momentarily and pumped his fist, all the while knowing how deep the hole he had dug for himself really was.Maybe one day that moment will serve as decent consolation for not winning the Grand Slam. He would later say that those rousing cheers meant as much as a 21st Grand Slam title. There are worse things.Back on the court, Medvedev had his nearly insurmountable lead, and he made sure not to waste his second chance to serve out the championship. He blasted one last serve that Djokovic could not get back over the net, ending the most difficult of quests in a way that few could have imagined.There would be no Grand Slam, but there was love, and Djokovic, who is at once a sentimentalist, a warrior and a deep thinker with an impetuous streak that has often gotten him into trouble, knew that was not nothing.“My heart is filled with joy, and I am the happiest man alive because you guys made me feel that way on the court,” he said just before raising a plate instead of a trophy. “I never felt like this.” More

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      What Emma Raducanu Means for a More Complex Britain

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      Emma Raducanu, 18, galvanized the nation with her triumph in the U.S. Open, drawing congratulations from royalty and inspiring pride in her hometown outside London.LONDON — At long last, Britain got the outpouring of national jubilation it has craved this summer, not from a men’s soccer team that narrowly missed sports immortality but from a young woman with a radiant smile, Emma Raducanu, who stormed from obscurity to win the U.S. Open tennis title on Saturday.The straight-set victory of Ms. Raducanu, 18, over Leylah Fernandez, a 19-year-old Canadian, drew an eruption of cheers from crowds that gathered to watch the match at pubs in her hometown, Bromley, and at the nearby tennis club that set her on an improbable path to Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.“The atmosphere is buzzing,” said Dave Cooke, manager of The Parklangley Club, where Ms. Raducanu trained for several years, starting when she was 6. The day after her victory, members brimmed with pride, recounting how she returned after competing at Wimbledon for a practice session.“Just to watch her train was phenomenal,” said a member, Julie Slatter, 54. “You just know she’s going to take it all the way.”Queen Elizabeth lost no time in congratulating the new champion for “a remarkable achievement at such a young age,” which she said was a “testament to your hard work and dedication.” Looking slightly dazzled Ms. Raducanu said, “I’m maybe going to frame that letter or something.”Dave Cooke, the club manager at Parklangley. He said Ms. Raducanu ‘‘strived to meet her dreams.’’Andrew Testa for The New York TimesHer victory made history on multiple counts: She became the first player to win a Grand Slam title from the qualifying rounds and the first Briton to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade captured Wimbledon in 1977. Ms. Wade cheered on Ms. Raducanu from the gallery, as did Billie Jean King on the winner’s podium — two champions crowning a new one, and heralding, perhaps, a glittering new era for British tennis.For long-suffering British sports fans, Ms. Raducanu’s victory was also a kind of redemption after the heartbreaking defeat of England’s soccer team in the finals of European championships in July. England snatched defeat from victory in that game when it missed three penalty kicks in the deciding shootout against Italy.But on Saturday, Ms. Raducanu did not let a cut on her leg, from a fall late in the match, stop her from dispatching Ms. Fernandez, 6-4, 6-3, closing things out with an ace before falling to the court in joyous celebration. The timeout she needed to get her leg bandaged was one of the few anxious moments for Ms. Raducanu during a tournament in which she did not drop a single set.Like the national soccer team, Ms. Raducanu embodies the exuberant diversity of British society. Her victory is both a tacit repudiation of the anti-immigration fervor that fueled the Brexit vote in 2016 and a reminder that, whatever its politics, the polyglot Britain of today is a more complicated and interesting place.The daughter of a Romanian father and a Chinese mother, Ms. Raducanu was born in Toronto in 2002. Her family moved to England when she was 2, settling in Bromley, an outer borough of London known for leafy parks and good schools. A serious student, Ms. Raducanu has taken time off from the professional tour to study for exams, crediting her mother for keeping her focused on academics.A shopping street on Sunday in Bromley, Ms. Raducanu’s hometown.Andrew Testa for The New York Times“She’s got where she is because she’s a nice person and put in some hard work and strived to meet her dreams,” Mr. Cooke said.Though he described Ms. Raducanu as part of a generation of younger athletes who have stayed grounded and mentally strong, he said the Grand Slam title would impose new pressures on her.“You achieve something great, you raise your own bar,” he said. “We need to strip back those pressures from her.”Ms. Raducanu first came to national attention in June when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before withdrawing, telling coaches she was having trouble breathing.That setback led some commentators, including John McEnroe, to express doubts about her mental fitness, especially at a time when another female star, Naomi Osaka, has spoken openly about her struggles with the pressures of the game. Under the lights in Flushing Meadows, however, Ms. Raducanu silenced her critics. She looked fit, poised, and relentless.Her performance inspired people from all corners of British society. At her old club, girls talked about running into Ms. Raducanu in the school hallways or at local restaurants. Some said they hoped to follow in her footsteps.“We want to go into tennis,” said Yuti Kumar, 14, who attends the same school as Ms. Raducanu, Newstead Wood School, where the graduates include the actress Gemma Chan and Dina Asher-Smith, an Olympic sprinter.The actor Stephen Fry waxed philosophical, saying on Twitter, “Yes, it may be ‘only’ sport, but in that ‘only’ there can be found so much of human joy, despair, glory, disappointment, wonder and hope. A brief flicker of light in a dark world.”The Parklangley Club on Sunday.Andrew Testa for The New York TimesThe Spice Girls kept it simpler. “@EmmaRaducanu that’s Girl Power right there!!” the group tweeted.Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prince Charles, Prince William and the Manchester United soccer team all sent their congratulations, as did the right-wing Brexit leader, Nigel Farage, who tweeted “a global megastar is born.”David Lammy, a Labour Party member of Parliament who is Black, noted that Mr. Farage once said he would not be comfortable living next to a Romanian (Mr. Farage later expressed regret for the remark). “You have no right to piggyback on her incredible success,” Mr. Lammy posted on Twitter.The dust-up echoed one earlier in the summer when Mr. Lammy faulted Conservative Party members for jumping on the bandwagon of the English soccer team, once it began winning, after having earlier criticized its players for kneeling before games to protest racial and social injustice.In Bromley on Sunday, though, the focus was on a local hero. Many believed her achievement would fuel a surge of interest in tennis playing — and other ambitions — among young people who have struggled to find motivation during the pandemic.“She’s a schoolgirl and she’s from Bromley,” said Jennifer Taylor, 40, sitting outside a pub. “I’m sure if she comes to Bromley, they’ll be a huge welcome for her.”As she prepared to return home, Ms. Raducanu alluded to Britain’s eventful sports summer, in which millions of fans, herself included, took to chanting the theme of the England team, “Football’s coming home.”Posting pictures of herself waving a Union Jack and holding the silver cup of the Open champion, she said, “We are taking her HOMEEE.”“The atmosphere is buzzing,” said the manager of the Parklangley Club, where Ms. Raducanu trained.Andrew Testa for The New York Times More

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      Medvedev Has a Two-Set Lead Over Djokovic

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      Daniil Medvedev has tightened his grip on this U.S. Open men’s final, leading Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, and putting himself one set from winning his first major title.Medvedev converted on his third set point opportunity with a strangely pushed drop shot that caught Djokovic off-guard, leaving him stretching for a backhand that went well wide of the court.The pro-Djokovic contingent inside Ashe has grown more vocally desperate as their player falters in his bid for the Grand Slam, cheering Medvedev’s missed first serves and double faults.Djokovic is by no means out of this match, of course. He came back from two sets down twice before during this Grand Slam bid, both times at the French Open. In the fourth round of that tournament he came back to beat Lorenzo Musetti, and in the final he came back to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas. More

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      Medvedev Takes the First Set, 6-4 in the Men's Singles Final

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      Novak Djokovic finds himself in familiar territory 36 minutes into the final: down a set at the U.S. Open.Medvedev took the first set, 6-4, without facing a break point, holding onto a break he earned in the opening game of the match.Djokovic has plenty of room to come back in the best-of-five format, and he’s done it many times here: he has lost the first set in his last five matches in this tournament. Each of the previous four times, he came back to win the second set and the match.Medvedev has only lost one set at the Open this year, in the quarterfinals against qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp.Medvedev was able to play the first set on his terms, hitting more winners (13 to 10) and fewer unforced errors (7 to 10) than Djokovic. But Djokovic at least seems in command of his own after two shaky opening games, and there has been very little separating the two for the past 30 minutes. More

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      Novak Djokovic Tries to End 52-Year Grand Slam Drought at U.S. Open

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      To capture the first Grand Slam in men’s tennis in 52 years, Djokovic must beat Daniil Medvedev in the U.S. Open final. “Mentally, he’s the best player to ever play the game,” Djokovic’s semifinal opponent said.Novak Djokovic might disagree, but after a 52-year vigil in the men’s game, you want the Grand Slam to be worthy of the wait.You want it to be not just inspiring but devilishly difficult, with opponents throwing heart, soul and full-cut forehands into stopping the quest.You want, in essence, matches like Djokovic’s Friday night semifinal at the U.S. Open against Alexander Zverev. Five sets of thorny questions answered and of break points saved in which, as so often in the moments that matter most, Djokovic found a way to impose his game and will.“He plays the best tennis when he needs to, which a lot of players don’t,” Zverev said.Djokovic was calm, unusually calm, as he again worked it all out, sifting through risk-reward ratios, making tactical shifts and, above all, refusing to miss on the biggest points. Full focus was required because the danger of his Grand Slam running onto the rocks was real, just as it will be on Sunday when he faces Daniil Medvedev, another taller and much younger opponent, in the final.Djokovic, a man who likes to chew on the grass after winning Wimbledon, is close enough to taste his 21st career Grand Slam singles title, which would break his tie with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the men’s record. But the shiniest prize at this stage is the Grand Slam: winning all four major singles titles in the same season.Nadal and Federer, for all their gifts and enduring excellence, have never come close. Djokovic is one match away, which is no surprise to Open officials, who long ago recruited Rod Laver to come to New York to award the trophy on Sunday.Laver, an Australian lefthander nicknamed Rocket, completed the Grand Slam in 1962 as an amateur and in 1969 as a professional. No man has done it since. His red hair has long since gone gray. He is 83 and still passionate about the game, and he was front and center in the president’s box on Friday, just as he will be on Sunday.“I’m going to treat the next match like it’s the last match of my career,” Djokovic told the ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe in his on-court interview Friday.It would have been more symbolic if Nadal or Federer was the one trying to keep Djokovic from clearing the final hurdle. But a champion can play only the opposition he is dealt, and if Nadal and Federer have both been sidelined at this advanced stage with injuries, that only underscores Djokovic’s resilience and longevity.Staying healthy enough to keep winning is part of the greatness equation, part of the challenge, and it has been left to Djokovic, still No. 1, to hold off the next generation in New York.So far, so great against the best talent available: the Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals and the 2021 Olympic gold medalist Zverev in the semifinals.“Look, there is a reason why he’s won 20 Grand Slams, and there’s a reason why he’s spent the most weeks at world No. 1,” Zverev said. “I think mentally he’s the best player to ever play the game. Mentally in the most important moments. I would rather play against anybody else but him.”Should Djokovic win the U.S. Open on Sunday, he will stand alone among the men with 21 career Grand Slam titles.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesDjokovic, who knows Zverev well because both are based in Monte Carlo, can sense the trepidation in the opposition and take strength from it.“Probably all these big matches that I won, big titles over the years, have kind of built that kind of aura around me that players know there’s a never-die spirit with me, especially when I play Grand Slams,” he said. “They know that until the last shot, things can turn around, which was the case in several occasions throughout my career. So I’m glad that my opponents think of me that way. I want them to feel that they are under extreme pressure when I’m facing them on a big stage in Grand Slams.”Djokovic was not always a rock. Early in his career, he had a reputation for taking frequent injury timeouts and retiring from matches. In 2008 at the U.S. Open, the American star Andy Roddick mocked Djokovic at a news conference by reciting a mostly fictional laundry list of his ailments, including both ankles, “a back and a hip, cramp, bird flu, anthrax, SARS, common cough and cold.”Was Djokovic bluffing during matches?Roddick demurred. “If it’s there, it’s there,” he said. “There’s just a lot. He’s either quick to call a trainer, or he’s the most courageous guy of all time. I think it’s up for you guys to decide.”That exchange seems like ancient history. Djokovic addressed his endurance issues and breathing difficulties with two surgeries for a deviated septum and a shift in 2010 to a gluten-free, largely plant-based diet.He became an ironman, and more than a decade later, the younger set still cannot keep up. After he defeated Zverev, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, Djokovic’s record in five-set matches was a phenomenal 36-10.The last man who can stop the Grand Slam is Medvedev, 25, a lean and trilingual Russian who is ranked No. 2 and is at his best on hardcourts.He lost the 2019 U.S. Open final in five sets to Nadal, and Medvedev’s sparkling form at the start of this season had many expecting another classic match when he faced Djokovic in the Australian Open final.Instead, Djokovic won, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2, breaking Medvedev’s game and spirit after a close first set. But Medvedev, who has won 14 of his last 15 matches, has had a more restful journey to the final in New York than Djokovic, dropping just one set to Djokovic’s six.“I’m going to give all I have left on Sunday, and I have a lot left,” Medvedev said after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets.Djokovic beat Medvedev at the Australian Open this year.Paul Crock/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMedvedev has beaten Djokovic three times in best-of-three-set matches but never in the best-of-five format. Opinions are divided on what approach he should take. McEnroe, a former U.S. Davis Cup captain who was courtside for ESPN on Friday, believes Medvedev needs to “out-patience” Djokovic.“It looked to me like Medvedev came out in Australia and thought, ‘I will outhit this guy,’ but he doesn’t hit big enough to outhit him,” McEnroe said. “He has to outmaneuver him, which I think he can do. I think he has the shot tolerance. The question is, does he have the guts? You’ve got to be willing to go to the wall in every way, shape and form and not only play your best strategic match but physically be ready to suffer like you have never suffered before.”What is clear is that Medvedev, in his third major final, no longer is content with making a deep run. He wants his first Grand Slam title much more than he cares about preventing Djokovic’s Grand Slam.“It’s true there is a lot of stake for him, and though that could put a lot of pressure on him, knowing him, the pressure will make him stronger,” Medvedev said. “I’m just going to give all I have, and I’m surely not going to think in the middle of the match if I’m winning that ‘OK, I’m ruining the record he’s trying to beat.’ It’s only the match that counts for me.”Djokovic also will try to focus on the match and only the match while recognizing that this means ignoring the elephant in the stadium.“I know we want to talk about history; I know it’s on the line,” he said late on Friday night. “Of course, I’m aware of it, but I’m just trying to lock into what I know works for me. I have my routines. I have my people. I isolate myself. I gather all the necessary energy for the next battle, only the next match.”It is hard to bet against him at this stage. After he has reeled in the greats, Federer and Nadal. After he has stared down so much pressure. After he has added dimensions to his game, like the drop shots that were often so effective against Zverev on Friday.But the Grand Slam has long been tennis’s steepest hill to climb, and it will be difficult to block it out with Laver front and center and Djokovic so close to something so rare.But then shouldn’t a Grand Slam be hard, very hard, after a 52-year wait? More

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      How to Watch the U.S. Open Men's Final in the U.S. and Canada

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      Novak Djokovic will battle Daniil Medvedev for the U.S. Open men’s singles title, and a chance to capture the first men’s Grand Slam in 52 years.How to watch: Sunday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN and streaming on the ESPN app in the United States. In Canada, on TSN and streaming on the TSN app.Novak Djokovic is one match away from completing the Grand Slam in men’s singles for the first time since 1969, when Rod Laver did it in the first full year that major tournaments were open to professionals.Few have come anywhere near that achievement in the decades since: When he won Wimbledon in July, Djokovic already became the first man since Laver to have won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. After winning his U.S. Open semifinal on Friday, Djokovic cited an interview where Kobe Bryant said he wasn’t happy about having taken a 3-1 lead in the N.B.A. Finals to explain his mind-set.“That’s kind of an attitude I have; job is not done,” Djokovic said. “Excitement is there. Motivation is there, without a doubt, probably more than ever. But I have one more to go.”By reaching the final, Djokovic has made it one step closer than Serena Williams’s Grand Slam bid came in 2015, when she lost in the semifinals to Roberta Vinci. Djokovic, who has recently followed Williams’s lead in declining to answer questions about the goal that he is pursuing, said he could relate to what she was going through.“I was talking to Serena; she was very emotional about everything that was going on,” Djokovic said of Williams in 2015. “I can relate to what she’s been going through right now, I understand it now. Obviously, once you’re in that situation, you can really comprehend what a player goes through.“I understand why she wanted to avoid all the questions about it because in the end of the day, you have to go out on the court and deliver,” he added. “You’re expected to always win. For a great legend that she is, she always has that expectations from everyone, including herself. It’s no different with me.” More

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      At U.S. Open, Leylah Fernandez Offers Moving Sept. 11 Remarks

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      After losing the women’s final at the U.S. Open on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Fernandez said, “I hope I can be as strong and resilient as New York has been the last 20 years.”Leylah Fernandez stood on the podium, fighting back tears. She had finished an eloquent runner-up speech, looking as if all she wanted was to disappear underneath the stands of Arthur Ashe Stadium and get a hug from her family. But she prolonged her anguish for a few more minutes.Fernandez, who had just lost in the U.S. Open women’s final, asked for the microphone back.“I know on this day, it’s especially hard for New York and everyone around the United States,” she said, referring to the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “I just want to say that I hope I can be as strong and resilient as New York has been the last 20 years. Thank you for always having my back. Thank you for cheering for me. I love you, New York.”It was a notable display of compassion from a woman who had just endured a crushing defeat, who had turned 19 five days earlier, and who had not been born when the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a passenger jet that crashed in Shanksville, Pa., occurred.“The awareness and composure that she showed in that speech was just incredible,” said Patrick McEnroe, the former player and ESPN analyst. “She took a moment to acknowledge a somber event and the world around her. That was something.”The young Canadian lost to Emma Raducanu, 6-4, 6-3. Raducanu, an 18-year-old from Britain, had to win three matches in the qualifying rounds to get into the main draw, and while she never lost a set, she faced only two seeded players in the tournament, neither in the top 10.Fernandez’s stunning two-week journey may have been more revelatory in some ways, even considering the loss in the final. She had to beat four seeded players in a row, two of them past champions — No. 3 Naomi Osaka, No. 16 Angelique Kerber, No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. All of her matches went to three sets.It was a transcendent performance, but some were equally impressed by how Fernandez handled herself afterward.“Look at what we saw and heard from Leylah,” said Billie Jean King, the four-time U.S. Open singles champion, who stood at the podium alongside the players after the match. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that, ever, at any match. Have you?”Fernandez said she woke up on Saturday, noticed the date, and asked her parents exactly what had happened 20 years ago. She heard about their personal experiences when they learned of the attacks, and about the terror of so many people in New York, across the United States and around the world. She felt compelled to address it.“I just wanted to let them know that they’re so strong, they’re so resilient,” Fernandez said. “They’re just incredible. Just having them here happy, lively, just going back to the way they were, having my back during these tough moments, has made me stronger and has made me believe in myself a lot more.”The toughest point for Fernandez happened late in the match, when Raducanu, who had scraped her leg, took a medical timeout. At the time, Fernandez had a break point and was within a point of getting the set back on serve. But Raducanu, who needed her left knee bandaged, came back on court and five points later closed out the match.A frustrated Fernandez discussed the matter with the chair umpire during the timeout and again immediately after the match. As Fernandez sat in her chair, defeated, the umpire climbed down to explain the situation further. Fernandez became visibly upset, tearing up. But later, she conceded that the incident had been handled correctly.“It just happened in the heat of the moment,” she said. “It was just too bad that it happened in that specific moment with me with the momentum. But it’s sports. It’s tennis. Just got to move on.”It was a reflective moment for the teenager.As a relative newcomer on tour, Fernandez was a largely unknown personality to many tennis fans. Most had seen only the ebullient version, celebrating her remarkable wins. Saturday was the first time they saw how she dealt with disappointment.There were a couple of moments of frustration, some anguished stares and a few tears. But overall, she handled herself much the way champions do. She was proud of herself, and was able to see a bigger picture than one loss.“Seeing my family and my fitness coach, my agents, all there smiling, having fun,” Fernandez said, “means a lot more to me than any victory.” More