TIL Desk Sports/ Competing just a stone’s throw from the bright lights of Broadway, Daniil Medvedev delivered the performance of a lifetime to win the US Open on Sunday and deny Novak Djokovic a rare calendar year Grand Slam.
The Russian won the year’s final major 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, though the straight-sets victory was anything but routine as Medvedev had to grit his teeth and battle through cramp to close out the match, keeping the pain hidden to avoid giving Djokovic the scent of blood.
“I started cramping at 5-3, I think because of the pressure at 5-2 where I had match points, I didn’t make it,” he told reporters. “My legs were gone after 5-3. At 5-4, left leg, I almost couldn’t walk. “If you really look the replay, when I walked to the towel, my leg was just going behind. I was trying not to show it. If Novak feels it, it’s not good.”
