The headlines haven’t been great at the Western & Southern Open. Rafael Nadal withdrew. Andy Murray exited right away and then announced he would not play the U.S. Open. Roger Federer lost his third-round match in straight sets. One of the men’s quarterfinals was not even played due to a Yoshihito Nishioka illness. Nick Kyrgios had another meltdown. Alexander Zverev double-faulted 20 times in a single match. Serena Williams pulled out. Naomi Osaka retired from her quarterfinal match due to injury.
But it hasn’t been all bad.
Daniil Medvedev, who used to be a Kyrgios kind of character but has toned it down and gotten down to business in recent seasons, has maintained his amazing form in Cincinnati. At this rate, it is looking like he may be the only person to challenge the Big 3 throughout the rest of 2019. Maybe.
Medvedev booked a spot in the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Andrey Rublev on Friday evening. Rublev upset Federer one day earlier. Medvedev finished runner-up in both Washington, D.C. and Montreal, and so far this week he has not dropped a single set.
The world No. 9 is joined in the semis by none other than Richard Gasquet, who was out for six months with a groin injury earlier this year. But the Frenchman is reminding us of the talent that he has had throughout his up-and-down career. From out of nowhere, Gasquet is through to his first Masters 1000 semifinal since 2013 (Miami) after knocking off a red-hot Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2 on Friday afternoon.
“I know how tough it was to come back,” Gasquet noted. “I know the moments I had at the start of the year, so I just wanted to enjoy, to fight. Of course, it’s not easy to come back after six months out, but I’m here. I’m in semis tomorrow.”
Next up for the resurgent veteran is David Goffin, who got the walkover from Nishioka.
“It will be tough,” Gasquet assured. “He’s a great player. He’s playing very fast. I need to recover now a little bit to be ready for tomorrow, because, as I said, he doesn’t miss. He’s playing fast, especially with the backhand. It will be a tough battle for me. It’s the semis. I have nothing to lose, so I try my best.”
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Med have a chance?
He might get a set. I predict lots of long rallies. I suppose there’s always a chance. Djokovic might break a leg.
Nope, I don’t think that Medvedev has a chance, although Djokovic is the only one of the Big Three, against whom Medvedev actually scored a win – on clay in Monte Carlo this year. But I wouldn’t read too much into this. Medvedev will find out that the Big Three are a totally different caliber than the rest of the tour.
More than Nadal or Federer, Djokovic has a tendency to struggle against players who are happy to trade long rallies from the middle of the court with low UE’s. Guys like Medvedev, Simon, RBA can be a thorn in his side sometimes, he seems to get frustrated more than Fed/Djoker.
Having said that, I would still tip him to win this match. At the end of the day it’s big3 v non-big3.
EDIT: that bit at the bottom of the first paragraph should say Fed/Rafa.
Wow, most of us were totally wrong!
I went to bed last night after Medvedev has taken the second set – which was the first set the Djoker lost during his campaign – and I had an inkling that Medvedev might be able to achieve the upset. Now Medvedev is in his third final in a row, and after having lost two of them, he has now a very good chance to win his first important title! And he has the distinction of having beaten Novak twice in a row now on two different surfaces!
He is certainly one of the players with the most momentum before the USO. But Rafa’s Montreal trophy deserves a bit more respect, too. now. His path into the Montreal final was not too difficult, especially since he has a walkover into the final. But then he beat one of the hottest young players easily😊
Certainly does. Medvedev is a VERY bad match up for Djokovic and market seems to think so also, in from 5.5 to 3.50 in the blink of an eye.
I think Medvdev is a 2.30 chance.
Against Djoko, a very slim one. Djoko hardly missed anything. Pouille tried his best in set one, reached the TB but soundly beaten despite all his resistance, and then lost quickly set two.
Such is how Djoko’s opponents would fare against him – tried hard, pushed him as best as they could for a set but still fell short, and then lost convincingly the next set to lose the match.
I expect Medvedev to do the same, he playing from the baseline is not going to beat Djoko. Djoko is the king of the HCs, Medvedev may be the king in future but not now.
Unfortunately, Novak is going to gift (lol) him the same beat down he sustained from Rafa in Canada, i’m afraid!
The big 3 have too much varieties for these up and coming baseliners! Rafa exposed Medvedev last week and so will Novak
I see Rafa and Fed having more varieties in their games than Djokovic. But what the Serb does, he does almost perfect, just enough to win almost against anyone.
Correct, the top 3 might be the same level but they are definitely not the same player. Players that Nadal struggles against Djokovic doesnt struggle against and vice versa.
True, and very interesting that is!
Unless Medvedev could play like Stan Wawrinka, ie relentless power hitting from both wings to overpower Djoko, I think Djoko will beat Medvedev just like at the AO, Medvedev may get a set.
Djoko doesn’t like power hitting baseliners. Can Medvedev be classified as one? I really don’t know for Medvedev, how much he has left in his tank. He’s playing continuously for three weeks now, going deep at each event played. It’ll be incredible if he gets to yet another final!
If Medvedev can best Novak, he wins the title! But he can’t! I doubt he will take a set of Nole…
We all were totally wrong! And for the second time this year a Masters 1000 title will not go to one of the Big Three. In IW Thiem won and beat Fed in the final. But in Cincy none of the Big Three even made it into the final, although two of them participated.
No, it’s the third time, not second. Remember Foggy at MC? It’s three years in a row now that first time winners had/have managed to win three or more Masters titles (2017 Sasha at Rome/Canada, Dimi at Cincy, Sock at Paris. In 2018 Delpo at IW, Isner at Miami and Khachanov at Paris).
If Medvedev wins the title on Sunday, then we have all three non big three winners each beating a big three fella enroute to their titles – Thiem beats Fed in IW final; Foggy beats Rafa in MC SF, and Medvedev beats Djoko in Cincy SF.
Medvedev by playing B2B finals at Canada/Cincy, has equalled Djoko’s 2015 results at those two Masters, and if he wins the Cincy title, he’ll be like Fed in 2007, 2014 and Djoko in 2011/2012, ie reached two finals B2B and winning one, very encouraging results for the Russian.
Djoko I must say is not doing well at HC Masters this year, I mean of three played this year, he has only reached one SF. Fed did well when he reached B2B finals at IW/Miami winning one.
Thanks, Lucky, how could I forget Foggie’s win in MC☺?
And, yes, they all managed to beat one of the Big Three in those tournaments. Foggie’s win is a bit different, though, because he is not one of the young guns, like Medvedev and Thiem. He belongs to the group of thirtysomethings, who are still doing extremely well on the tour or even became better.
While the Big Three have still a firm grasp on the majors, their grip on the Masters 1000s hasn’t been that strong anymore for a while now. It’s probably easier to topple the Big Ones in best-of-three than in best-of-five matches, where they have more possibilities to stage a comeback. I also think that in this stage of their respective careers the majors are the all-important goals, and the other tournaments are just preparations for the slams. That’s why Novak and Roger skipped Montreal and Rafa skipped Cincy, although he had a terrific draw. But the USO are the important destination.
While Novak hasn’t done especially well at the hardcourt Masters this year, I expect him to be his usual self at the USO. Beating Novak at a slam in a best-of-five match has become one one of the most difficult tasks.