US OPEN MEN’S FINALS

Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)

Tonight is the US Open Men’s Finals. By all account Rafa is overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy and win his 19th grand slam tournament. The three time US Open champion Spaniard will play his sixth final at Flushing Meadows. Nadal lost one set in five encounters to advance into the 28th Grand Slam final.

Will it be a repeat of womens finals? Not likely. Though there is a lot of similarity. Rafa is not Serena. Coming to this tournament his preparation is impeccable.

Against Nadal across the net will be Daniil Medvedev, a 6 ft 6 inches tall and gaunt twenty three year old Russian, with a patchy mustache under his long, sharp nose and a scrappy goatee on his chin. His light brown hair is retreating at the temples. He has high cheekbones and hooded eyes, and sometimes wears a faint smirk, although he is capable of appearing angelic. He likes to play video games and chess. He looks more like a professor than like a professional athlete. He acts more like a professional wrestler than like a tennis star.

Daniil Medvedev will be a tired man. He has played more singles tennis matches in the month than anyone on the tour. Medvedev reached three consecutive finals since the start of August, at tournaments in Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati.

However, in last month's Montreal Rogers Cup Masters finals he lost to Nadal 3 and 0 in their only prior meeting. Rafa skipped Cincinnati to rest and prepare, where Medvedev was champion the following week. After the semifinal in Cincinnati, against Novak Djokovic, Medvedev said, “Every tough exchange we had, I thought, O.K., I’m going to fall down. That’s it. The match is finished.” In that match Novac won the first set easily. But the Russian changed his game plan remarkably firing his second serves as first serve rattling Djokovic. He won in three sets.

His shots are flat and a little odd—one moment soft and angled, the next sent hard to the back of the court. He has a big first serve, and a big second serve—sometimes. He does not allow his opponents to get in rhythm. And the worse he is feeling, the more creative he seems to get. Against Wawrinka, he appeared, at several moments, to be in great pain. He called the trainer out to tape his quadriceps. He called the trainer out to cut off the tape. He hit nine double faults—in just the first set. He appeared, for entire games, barely to try to reach balls that landed at any real distance from him. He won the match 7–6 (8), 6–3, 3–6, 6-1. He was magnificent. The way I won was quite ugly,” Medvedev acknowledged afterward, “because that’s what I had to do.”

He added, “Of course, I would prefer to win in a normal way, with a normal tennis game. But that’s how I won.”

And while Nadal won his most recent meeting against Medvedev in the final of the Montreal Masters quite convincingly, he’ll be aware of a man who has otherwise enjoyed an impressive American summer, winning the prestigious Cincinnati Masters last month. Medvedev is in his first Grand Slam final, has gone 20-2 in the past six weeks.

Of course Rafa is aware of the danger. Nadal said, "He's one of the more solid players on tour. He's making steps forward every single week. He's the player that is playing better on tour this summer,"

Medvedev has not made his life easier by needlessly needling the crowd. They will be overwhelmingly behind Rafa. "Finally I'm here after three sets. I'm just happy to be in the final. 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", Medvedev said in a reconcialory gesture.

The Moscow native recalled his straight set Montreal final loss to the Mallorcan: "Rafa is a great player, one of the biggest champions in the history of the sport. Facing him is never easy. I learned a lot from that match and hopefully this time I can beat him."

The old wily fox John McEnroe believes Medvedev’s tactics and strategy could cause Nadal problems on Sunday evening. “Medvedev physically, that’s my biggest concern,” McEnroe said. “How much is left in the tank after three finals and everything he’s been through. He is like a chess master - I love this guy. Strategically, he’s one of the most brilliant young guys I’ve seen in ten years.”

Although Medvedev’s low-bouncing, off-speed shots have frustrated players throughout the year, they seemed to sit up in Nadal’s strike zone in Montreal. But while Nadal has gained plenty of free points on his serve this fortnight, the Russian’s return is one of his greatest strengths and he won’t allow the Spaniard as many free points.

What should Medvedev do to counter pounding of Rafa?

The fifth seed will need to keep the points short and avoid engaging Nadal in prolonged baseline rallies. Medvedev will also need to play his lethal cross court backhand into the Spaniard’s forehand. Although Nadal is stronger on that side, it will expose his backhand wing and give the Russian more opportunities to attack. Novac has shown that. Difficult but possible.

Nadal will want to consider adding even more spin to his shots against Medvedev. Players who hit flat shots don’t like hitting balls above their shoulder, but the Russian has the advantage of being 6’6”. A high ball for most players falls into Medvedev’s strike zone, so the Spaniard will need to add further height in order to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm.

A former Russian tennis great Kafelnikov said. “You need to go on the court with the mindset, ‘Okay, I’ve got a game plan. I need to stick to that game plan and execute it.’”

It all depends how he’s going to serve. His first-serve percentage will be the key to the match. He has to serve above 60%.

Daniil’s game has been that the longer the rally goes, the better chance that Daniil has to win the point. Tomorrow is going to be the opposite. The longer the rallies go, Nadal will destroy him. So Daniil needs to shorten up the points, come into net as much as he can. It’s completely opposite of his game, but that’s the only chance he can beat Nadal tomorrow.

Daniil stands back from the baseline and he cannot play being so far away. Those five meters will allow Nadal to have time to prepare. Daniil should serve in an amazing way and try to play forward.

Winning the first set is a MUST for the Russian. If he loses first two sets Rafa will not give him more than 2 games in the third.

After 18 years on tour, Nadal shows no signs of slowing down. He’s one match away from securing his fifth Grand Slam title in his 30s, a feat which would be unprecedented in the Open Era.

If Rafa has no injury concerns it is difficult to put money against Rafa.

May the better player on the day win.

PS. I live eating crows. You know why.