Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Nadal closes on Roger’s record as he battles back to win US Open
RAFAEL Nadal admitted he feared he had blown his chance of a 19th grand slam title when Daniil Medvedev mounted his astonishing comeback in their epic US Open Final.
The Spanish second seed led by two sets and a break but Russian fifth seed Medvedev somehow hit back to level the match and had break points at the start of the decider.
But Nadal dug as deep as he has probably ever had to to secure a dramatic 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4 victory in four hours and 50 minutes to move to within one major title of Roger Federer’s record.
“Did I think I might lose? Of course, when you have break point against in the beginning of the f i f t h, losing the last two sets, you are in trouble,” he said.
“But I really tried to avoid this thought. I always believe that I’m going to keep having chances. That’s the way that I approach it.
“I always was in front of the score until the end. It’s difficult for me to think I am going to lose.
“Of course, I was i n trouble. But I didn’t play a very good game at the 3-2 of that third set.
“At that moment things looked under control but then Daniil increased a lot and changed a l ot of things.”
The turnaround was not just confined to the court, as the crowd also got behind Medvedev.
The hot-headed Russian, playing in his first grand slam final, had previously been public enemy No 1 in New York.
He had been jeered by those in the stands throughout the fortnight after he flipped them the middle finger during the third round.
Afterwards Medvedev said to the crowd: “I want to talk about you guys. Earlier I said it in a bad way, now I mean it in a good way. It’s because of your energy that I’m here in the final.”