US Open – Good Morning Flushing – Nick Kyrgios is in his place, Daniil Medvedev was no longer in his place

The story of the day

Nick Kyrgios has truly changed for good. Her Wimbledon final was not a “one shot”. The most striking thing is not that the Australian beat Daniil Medvedev on Sunday evening in the most anticipated match since the start of the men’s tournament.

No, the most amazing thing, on reflection, is that it is not even possible to speak of surprise. Even less exploit. Kyrgios, the man of the mess, who until two months ago had not passed the eighth in Grand Slam for seven and a half years, has reinvented a future. He is in his place and, if he remains capable of formidable flashes, everything he accomplishes on the court is a matter of certain mastery.

The level that was his against the now ex-world number one is staggering. In the last two rounds, there was not even really a match, as the superiority of the Australian was so clear. The only surprise of this evening is perhaps nestled there, in the magnitude and clarity of his victory against Medvedev. Gilles Cervara’s protege felt that, in a very different register of course, this Kyrgios was as difficult to play as a Djokovic or a Nadal. That is to say.

When he is also involved, focused and determined, Nick Kyrgios ticks all the boxes of a world Top 5, maybe even a little higher than that. The quality of its service is known to all. In the exchange, he is able to send mines in all directions, in all directions and all angles. He attacks. He is suffocating. It’s punchy, almost always. It’s flamboyant, often. It is fine, too, on occasion, like this touch which allowed him to distill a number of amortizations which cut the whistle and the legs of Daniil Medvedev.

He’s strong in his head too, Nick. The tie-break of the first set, by far the peak of this match, testifies to this. Set points gone, set points saved and, ultimately, the last word for him. Even when he gets frustrated (we saw him swing his racket, precisely in this burning decisive game of the first set), he immediately evacuates this negative pollution to remobilize himself.

Kyrgios has always had gold in his racket but he had to scrape off the thick lead varnish that covered him for this gold to fully reveal itself. At the top of the table, where Karen Khachanov, Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini still hang around him, it is not forbidden to make him the favorite. There is no longer much forbidden for this Kyrgios who, himself, no longer forbids anything.

In this role of man to beat, Nick Kyrgios is simply in his place. Daniil Medvedev, he was probably no longer quite his own in this role of world number one which rested only on his New York coronation, too distant for this official status to still make him the best. world player twelve months later. What we witnessed last night is not a surprise, but the reconciliation of impressions and facts.

We liked

The mastery of Caroline Garcia. Swiatek. Sakkari. Sabalenka. Kvitova. Pegula. Raducanu. The Frenchwoman has pinned a lot of high-sounding names during her studious summer. Alison Riske-Amritraj may not have quite the same shine on this list but for lack of prestige, the victory of the Lyonnaise over the American on Sunday evening (6-4, 6-1) is very revealing of its new dimension. Faced with this player whom she does not like to play and who had always beaten her in three confrontations, Garcia, nervous at the start of the match (she talked a lot, which is always a sign for her), she managed to overcome his stress, before unwinding.

The Gauff show. Queen Serena having bowed out, New York’s attention is largely shifting to the one who is presented as her heiress. Coco Gauff is now on the front line, even if she is not the only American survivor in the women’s draw since Pegula and Collins are still present too. But Gauff has that superstar potential that Flushing adores. We sometimes forget that she is still only 18 years old, but she already assumes many things. Against Zhang, she played with the stuff of a boss on the Arthur-Ashe (7-5, 7-5). His quarterback against Caroline Garcia can ignite the Big Apple.

The Kyrgios-Medvedev tie-break. If the match as a whole will have almost disappointed a little, with three last rounds where the absence of real combat has harmed the interest of the meeting, there will remain a superb first set and especially this dantesque tie-break, won 13- 11 by Australian. He missed nothing during those 24 points. The sequel seemed a bit bland in comparison…

We didn’t like

The way Medvedev fell apart. For two sets, there was a fight. Then almost nothing. Daniil Medvedev has only taken five games in the last two sets. The Russian spoke of a physical pump, due to a cold snap (thanks to the air conditioning). Let’s be clear, he did not make it an excuse for his defeat, but a partial explanation for his spectacular stall in the second half of the match.

Corentin Moutet’s ignition delay. A bit like Richard Gasquet on Saturday against Rafael Nadal, Corentin Moutet took far too long to express himself against Casper Ruud. Led 6-1, 6-2, 4-2, the Francilien had a superb reaction to come back and embark the finalist of Roland-Garros in a fourth round. He couldn’t go any further in his comeback ambitions, but the damage had been done in the first two sets. His week (his fortnight even, as he rightly says since he went through qualifying) is nonetheless very positive. That it can serve as a solid base for the future…

Three stats to remember

3. We will not try to extrapolate more than reason but, all the same, here is a statistic which pleads in favor of Caroline Garcia. She is only the third French player to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament without dropping a set. She joined Amélie Mauresmo, at Wimbledon in 2006, and Marion Bartoli in 2013, still at Wimbledon. Do you see us coming? Both times the story ended well.

5. Matteo Berrettini is remarkably consistent in Grand Slams. Winner of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in five sets on Sunday, he has always reached (at least) the quarter-finals in his last five appearances in a major tournament:

Roland-Garros 2021: Quarter-final
Wimbledon 2021: Final
US Open 2021: Quarter-finals
Australian Open 2022: Semi-final
US Open 2022: Quarter-final at worst

The Italian had missed Roland-Garros through injury then Wimbledon because of Covid-19 in recent months. In Flushing, he resumed his good habits. Note that during the four Grand Slam tournaments mentioned above, he had only been beaten by Novak Djokovic (three times) and Rafael Nadal (in Melbourne this year).

14. Daniil Medvedev eliminated, the “curse of the holder” continues at Flushing Meadows. Since Roger Federer’s quintuplet between 2004 and 2008, the outgoing winner of the US Open for men has failed to retain his title the following year. In order: Del Potro (2009), Nadal (2010), Djokovic (2011), Murray (2012), Nadal (2013), Cilic (2014), Djokovic (2015), Wawrinka (2016), Nadal (2017) , Djokovic (2018), Nadal (2019), Thiem (2020) and, therefore, Medvedev (2021), failed – or withdrew – in the following edition. Over this period, the US Open is a unique case in this area compared to its three Grand Slam cousins.

The statement: Daniil Medvedev

About the world number one spot, which he will lose in a week.

Just to know…

Whose world number one spot in a week? Nadal? Alcaraz? Ruud?

Isn’t Kyrgios establishing himself as the man to beat in this tournament after his show of strength on Sunday?

For Caroline Garcia, do we have the right to start dreaming or is it always forbidden?

Did Medvedev really recover from his loss to Nadal in the Australian Open final? Since then, a spring seems broken in the Russian.

The match not to be missed on Monday: Nadal – Tiafoe

Three and a half years ago, Frances Tiafoe revealed himself at the Australian Open, where he reached the quarter-finals. There, the American had taken Manacor’s bulldozer full face. 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Rafael Nadal had outclassed him. Monday, Tiafoe will find the record holder for Grand Slam victories, for an eighth final which we want to believe could cause some sparks and ignite the Arthur-Ashe court.

Nadal obviously remains the big favorite for this meeting, but he has not always been imperial since the start of the fortnight. Yes, he played his best match against Richard Gasquet in the third round, but it is difficult to consider a victory over the Biterrois as revealing for him, as the balance of power has been unbalanced since the two passed the milestone of puberty.

Frances Tiafoe doesn’t have the pedigree of a Gasquet, but he arguably has more weapons in his game to cause real problems for Rafael Nadal. In any case, he leaves pumped up: “I’m definitely a different player compared to 2019, I’m playing a lot better. And I’m not going to have this apprehension of playing it for the first time. Now I believe I can beat him, I’m really gonna tackle him.” In other words, no more excessive respect, Tiafoe is waiting for the bulldozer. It’s daring, but if he doesn’t believe it…