Medvedev notches his 50th win of 2019 to become first Russian male player to reach a Grand Slam final since Marat Safin at the 2005 Australian Open
Saturday 7 September 2019 06:48, UK
The hottest player in tennis Daniil Medvedev became the first Russian male to reach the US Open final since 2000 after beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.
Medvedev proved too good for the 78th-ranked Dimitrov to seal a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-3 victory in two hours and 38 minutes and make it through to his fourth-straight final.
"The tournament of controversies," he smiled afterwards. "Finally I'm here after three sets. I'm just happy to be in the final.
"When I was going to the USA, I didn't know it would be this good. I have to say I love the USA!
"I want to be a better person than I was a few days here."
Medvedev was making his final four debut, while Dimitrov came into the match having eliminated a hampered Roger Federer in a five-set quarter-final.
It was no surprise to see both players starting off nervously as they traded a couple of early breaks of serve under the Arthur Ashe roof due to poor weather conditions in New York on Friday.
The lanky Russian saved a set point when serving to stay in the opening set at 6-5 before forcing a tie-break.
With tensions rising a couple of unforced errors from Dimitrov handed the 23-year-old the opener in 61 minutes, despite five double-faults and 18 unforced errors in the set from Medvedev.
Medvedev might remain public enemy No 1 among the Flushing Meadows fans after flipping them a 'visual obscenity' during his win over Feliciano Lopez last week, but having reached three consecutive ATP Tour finals coming into Flushing Meadows, including a win in Cincinnati, Medvedev is seen as the form player of the summer.
There were four breaks of serve in the opening five games of a physically draining second set which lasted exactly an hour. The robust Russian came out on top of a marathon ninth game and then took his set point opportunity after the Bulgarian netted on the backhand side.
Dimitrov, who was the lowest-ranked semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows since 1991, was simply unable to keep up with the irresistible force of Medvedev, who steamrollered his way into Sunday's final against 18-time major champion Rafael Nadal or first-time major semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini of Italy.
