Daniil Medvedev goes from villain to US Open finalist with win over Grigor Dimitrov

US Open
Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev capped off an amazing few weeks by reaching his maiden Grand Slam final as he beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the US Open semi-final, but the Russian is determined to pull off one more special win.

The fifth seed produced another polished display as he beat Dimitrov 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 38 minutes to book his place in Sunday’s finale at Flushing Meadows.

He will face second seed Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard beat Matteo Berrettini in three sets.

Medvedev, the first Russian to reach the final since Marat Safin in 2003, played the role of bad boy earlier in the tournament as he was booed by the crowd during the third round and told them after the match that their “support” spurred him on.

However, he has changed his ways and declared his love for the USA after his last-four win.

“When I was going to USA, I didn’t know it was going to be this good,” Medvedev said. “So I have to say I love USA.”

After trading breaks with Dimitrov early in the first set, Medvedev just edged the tie-breaker while the second set started with four breaks in the first five games.

The fifth seed, though, finally got the crucial break in game 10 while a single break in game four of the third set was enough to put him in his fourth consecutive final.

He finished runner-up to Nick Kyrgios in Washington and runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup before finally getting his hands on the Cincinnati Masters trophy with victory over David Goffin.

Now he wants to complete the perfect summer.

“This summer’s been, I should say, so fast and long at the same time. Long because I’ve played so many matches,” he said. “At the same time so fast because, as you say, I didn’t have any moment to just sit down and look back and say, Okay, I’ve done amazing things.

“Hopefully I will have some time after Sunday. It’s going to be the last match in USA summer. Of course, deep inside of me, I understand that what I’ve done these four weeks is amazing, even comparing to what I’ve done before.

“Also one more thing: I don’t want to stop. I will always work to be better. I will try to do my best every day.”

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Daniil Medvedev

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