daniil medvedev – Page 5 – TennisReporters.net

US Open final: Nadal vs. Medvedev, can the ‘older’ Rafa win it?

There are times when Rafa Nadal isn’t crushing the ball, and the Spaniard has said that he was a little nervous, or mentally somewhere else. Most times, though, he pushes himself until he finds the solution.

Nadal has won 18 Grand Slams, and on Sunday at the US Open, he will be favored against the rising Russian Daniil Medvedev.

Nadal pays attention, scouting the good, young players at the tournaments or watching on TV. He studies, which is very important. But, really, you have to be playing on court against the opponent. Whether you are practicing, or playing against him, eventually, you will understand their game.

The 33-year-old Nadal knows about the two other fantastic players, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, because they have played against each other so, so many times. But he has not been around with Medvedev too often. However, five weeks ago, they played each other in the final for the first time and Nadal crushed him in Montreal, 6-3, 6-0. He was just much more consistent, and solid.

Perhaps that the Russian was too tired, or messed up in Canada. And the next week, in Cincinnati, he kept trying, thinking and keep the ball in the court. Medvedev won the event (Nadal pulled out before play started), upsetting with the No. 1 Novak Djokovic, and now he is happy and driven. That’s why the No. 5 advanced this final.

At 6’6”, he is very tall, he is potent and he can mash his first serve. He can also be patient.

Nadal likes hitting spin, especially with his massive forehand. When he returns, he stands way back behind the court, and frequently, he gets it back. Here comes the rally.

If Medvedev wants to win, he just has to focus on the ball for every shot. It appears that the Russian will win a Grand Slam someday, but not yet.

Nadal will play almost spectacular for a couple hours, and he will win in four sets. The gigantic lefty will have his 19^th Slam.

Andreescu wins the US Open
There are times when people reach the final of a Grand Slam, and then they freeze. But, that wasn’t Bianca Andreescu, who beat Serena Williams, 6-3, 7-5. Serena has won it 23 major titles, but the 19-year-old Andreescu had not done it yet.

Going into the final, and watching her, she was so intense, and she could smack the ball off both sides. She also can return well, too.

That is why that coming into the US Open, she had won Indian Wells and Toronto, two huge titles. But to win a Slam, against everyone? That was questionable. But, oh no, there she went, hustling, sprinting and just putting it away, game after game.

The Canadian was up 6-3, 5-1, and it looked like she was about to win. Serena was not playing well, especially her serve and her forehand. But, all of a sudden, Williams began to play well. And Andreescu almost froze.

It was 5-5 in the second, the American fans were thrilled, cheering loudly for Serena. But, then Andreescu began to be good again, hitting with depth, and force in the backcourts. She wasn’t nervous anymore, she stared down and she won it. She did cry, almost everyone has, and she smiled for a long time.

Now the No. 5 Andreescu can become No. 1 fairly soon. Perhaps at the end of the year, or at the beginning of 2020. If Andreescu stay healthy, she will win a Slam again, without a doubt. She is that good.

Top 30s in 2018, Men, 20-16

No. 20: Marco Cecchinato
Where did the Italian come from, so suddenly? A few years ago, he looked OK,but this season, the 26-year-old rebelled and he was much more dependable —early on. He won Umag and Budapest, which was not a Slam, or in the ATP 1000s, but still, at least he stuck in there. More than that, at Roland Garros, he stunned David Goffin and Novak Djokovic to reach the semis before he lost to Dominic Thiem. That was impressive. But, after that, he barely won a match during the next five months. He must regroup ASAP or he will begin to drop hard down the rankings. Here comes Australia.

No. 19: Grigor Dimitrov
The Bulgarian looked so good in 2017. He concentrated, focused and hitting the lines. But, not so in 2018 as he slipped, pretty badly. Of course, he is still in the top 20 in 2018. Now, when he is on court against the great players, you can tell that inside he is nervous and almost immediately frustrated. Here and there, he won a few good matches, but it was rare, and he lost to all the elite competitors, like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, etc. Healso lost to the very good players like Marin Cilic, Kevin Anderson, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori. The only real accomplishments in 2018 were reaching the quarters at the Aussie Open, beating Nick Kyrgios before losing against Kyle Edmund. In February, Dimitrov made it into the final at Rotterdam, but Federer crushed him 6-2, 6-2. After that, he did nothing. At all. However, he is an excellent player when he is on. Still, he has to believe himself again. Will he do that in January? I have no idea, but it will be intoxicating to watch him.

No. 18: Milos Raonic
The 27-year-old Canadian was OK, here and there, but he has said that he wants to win a Grand Slam. Most people do, and two years ago, he reached the 2016 Wimbledon final, and he was ready to rock. He upset Federer in the semis — a great win — but in the final against Andy Murray, the Brit took him down.Murray was very thoughtful, and he returned well, too, on grass, while Raonic couldn’t break him. Clearly, Raonic has improved a decent amount — especially his backhand — but also, he gets hurt a tremendous amount. Plus, while he has won eight small or medium titles, he still haven’t won an ATP 1000, even though he has lost three finals. In 2019, if he wants to win a gigantic event, he has to breathe, be solid and creative, and once in a while, have some fun.

No 17: Diego Schwartzman
The Argentine plays a ton, but a few years ago, he was so-so. Yet in 2018, he became more skillful on clay. He is still trying to figure out the hard courts as well as the grass, but he will rush the net here and there. His legs are strong and he can be very steady. Just like Cecchinato and Dimitrov, after Schwartzman reached the quarters at Roland Garros and lost Nadal in four sets — a pretty good match — he went down from June through November. Of course, he works a lot, but is he changing any type of tactics in 2019? I would hope so.

No. 16: Daniil Medvedev
Finally, here, among these five players, we have a 22-year-old. Russian Medvedev is getting better all the time. He is 6-foot-6, he can smoke the ball, and this year, he won three titles: Sydney, Winston-Salem and Tokyo. Obviously, they were not huge tournaments, but in Tokyo — a good event — he upset Raonic and Nishikori to grab it. To beat the Japanese in front of everyone in the final was very important. Plus, when he started the year, he was ranked No. 65, and he has to qualify at Sydney. He went all the way, taking seven matches in a row. Medvedev is obviously very healthy and pretty lethal. Without a doubt, he will push into the top-10 pretty soon.