Daniil Medvedev is the second seed at this year’s US Open, so he cannot face the top-seeded Novak Djokovic before the finals. However, Medvedev doesn’t have the best of memories while playing in Slam finals.
The Russian lost an epic five-setter to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 US Open final, despite fighting back from two sets and a break down. He also made the summit clash of the Australian Open this year, where he was handed a thrashing by Novak Djokovic.
But Dominic Thiem believes the Russian could pose the biggest challenge to Novak Djokovic at New York because of his well-rounded game and elite fitness levels. According to the Austrian, Medvedev has everything a player would want, without any noticeable weaknesses.
While some consider Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas to be big threats to Novak Djokovic too, Dominic Thiem reckons Daniil Medvedev is above them both in the pecking order. The Austrian pointed out that Medvedev has played more Slam finals than the other two, which he believes will serve as a “huge experience” should the Russian make it to the summit clash at Flushing Meadows.
What makes Daniil Medvedev a bigger threat to Novak Djokovic than Alexander Zverev?
While Dominic Thiem believes Daniil Medvedev is the most likely candidate to stop Novak Djokovic from achieving tennis history at the US Open, there are others who claim Alexander Zverev could be the one to beat the Serb. After all, the German did come back from a set and a break down to beat Djokovic at the Tokyo Olympics.
But still others have pointed out that Zverev is entering the US Open with a lot of baggage - most notably the domestic violence allegations by his ex-girlfriend Olya Sharypova. And while the German has proven to be mentally tough in recent times, there is a growing consensus that the off-court issues might start affecting him at some point.
Daniil Medvedev, on the other hand, has no such baggage. But more importantly, Medvedev has proven in the past that he is someone who learns from his mistakes quickly.
The Russian has a tennis IQ that many say is only rivaled by Novak Djokovic himself. It is likely that Medvedev would have done an in-depth analysis of the reasons behind his Australian Open loss to Djokovic.
Whether he comes out on top or not this time is a different matter altogether. But there is little doubt that Dominic Thiem’s assertion about the Russian being the biggest threat to Novak Djokovic at the US Open is backed by sound reasoning.
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