How humorless it can be on the tennis court, Lucas Pouille had to learn in June. At the grass tournament in Stuttgart led the world ranking 26th in the decisive sentence 5: 1, and he expected the serve of Daniil Medvedev. The Russian Medvedev had evidently resigned himself to the threat of defeat - and used the time he had left to write history. He took full risk.
In only 29 seconds, Medvedev struck four aces and reduced to 2: 5. It is - at least unofficially - the fastest service in the long history of his sport. Shortly thereafter, he lost the match nevertheless. A defeat he has long since coped with.
Since then, Medvedev's career has gained momentum. The 1.98 meter professional has won 19 of his last 23 games and has been in the final of an ATP tournament three times in a row. In Cincinnati - the last major test before the US Open - he beat, among others, the current Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic. The world ranking first said afterwards that he could not adjust himself to the many changes of tempo of his opponent. Djokovic is not alone with that.
"He just makes you uncomfortable on the pitch"
Stefanos Tsitsipas had described Medvedev's playing style as "very, very strange" in an interview with The New York Times. This, the Greek continues, he does not mean negative. "He just makes you uncomfortable on the pitch, he plays sloppy - but in a positive way." In fact, not everyone in Medvedev gets smart - not even he himself. "Sometimes I watch videos of my games and just think, 'What am I doing?'", Said the Russian.
But just this unpredictability makes him so dangerous. David Goffin, who defeated Medvedev in the final of Cincinnati in mid-August in two sets, impressed above all the constancy of his opponent. "He is very solid and does not make mistakes, it's like playing against a wall," said the Belgian.
In fact, the 23-year-old makes only a few dropouts. Medvedev plays neither fast nor very slow on forehand and backhand. Long rallies cause him no problems. Rather, it is usually the opponents who lose patience. Medvedev's backhand is now so strong that he often wraps his forehand. Thanks to his powerful serve, he often succeeds in freeing himself from dangerous situations.
Some also trust the Russians at the US Open (26th August to 8th September). 44 wins in this calendar year - better than Djokovic (38 wins), Federer (39 wins) and Nadal (41 wins) - helped him jump into fifth place in the world rankings.
AFP / MATTHEW STOCKMAN
Novak Djokovic congratulates Daniil Medvedev on the victory
"I hated Federer"
It was not so long ago that he made a negative appearance. In 2017, he had frustrated in Wimbledon during the fifth set of his second round match asking the responsible tournament director if they could exchange the chair umpire. After the match, he threw small change in front of the job of the referees to taunt them.
The year before, he was struck by racist slogans against his opponent Donald Young. In June, Medvedev said that he hated Roger Federer for a long time because of his dominance. In his childhood he had always wished the opponents of the Swiss luck. That has changed "a bit" meanwhile.
In his native country Medvedev is still a star. There, the tennis fans have been waiting for a male Grand Slam winner for almost 15 years. Marat Safin won the Australian Open in 2005 and the US Open five years earlier. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who had to end his career at the age of 29, also won two major tournaments. Now the hopes rest on Medvedev.
The final in Cincinnati was the 18th game within 20 days. Medvedev said after the victory that he had no strength left to celebrate the biggest title of his career. Before the start in New York, the 23-year-old's main goal was to switch off. The competition will hope that he did not do that too well. Medvedev's first hurdle on Monday night is the unrelated Prajnesh Gunneswaran from India.
