After celebrating the title with his boxing, Djokovic went down to the court and put on a shirt with the number 24 and the words "Mamba forever" and a picture of him and Kobe Bryant. The late basketball player was his great friend, and he wore numbers 8 and 24 throughout his career.
In 72 appearances at the Grand Slams, he reached the final every second one, and he made sure that all the numbers were rounded off by now having a trophy in every third one - Novak Djokovic defeated Danilo Medvedev 6:3, 7:6, 6 in the final of the US Open. :3.
Now he has 24 Grand Slam titles, as many as Margaret Court, but no one can say that he is not the best of all time in both competitions, because he won them all in the open era, unlike the legendary Australian.
Even more impressive is the way he reached his fourth trophy in New York, because he unreally withstood all the attacks of his rivals in the marathon 2nd set, which lasted an hour and 45 minutes and showed how mentally stable he is.
And with the third Grand Slam title in 2023, along with the final at Wimbledon, I guess he "solved" all the choices for the best athlete on the planet...
Nole played a phenomenal first set, breaking it at the start when he took a 3:0 lead, but the Russian started to wake up.
In the 2nd set, several very long games were seen, especially on Djokovic's serve, but the 36-year-old from Belgrade was masterful every time, and then in the tie-break with several spectacular points, he reached the threshold of heaven.
The end was announced by a break in the 4th game of the third part of the game, but Medvedev immediately fought back and reduced the score to 3:2. Then Djokovic again took away his rival's serve and never looked back.
He used the first match ball, wrote new pages of history and after saying goodbye to his rival, he sincerely cried.
How could he not, when he ended his three-year torment in New York - in 2020 he was kicked out of the tournament when he accidentally hit the linesman with the ball, a year later he missed the chance for a grand slam against Medvedev, and last year he could not even perform, because he was not vaccinated against coronavirus.
Medvedev reduced it to 5:3, although he was losing 0:30.
Another game until eternity! Djokovic leads 5:2 in the 3rd set, Medvedev seems to have surrendered.
Medvedev led 30:0, but Djokovic tied four points and took another break. Now the end is near.
Medvedev returns the break immediately! Novak gave him two break chances with a double service fault, and then shot a backhand out.
Djokovic had two break chances and he immediately used the first for 3:1.
Djokovic leads 2:1, Medvedev argued with the coach.
Medvedev wins his first game in the 3rd set with zero.
Novak wins the first game in the 3rd set with one lost point.
Medvedev took a medical time-out in the break between sets, it is obvious that he is suffering from great pain in the shoulder of his left arm. Djokovic went to the toilet.
The two sets lasted two hours and 32 minutes! If by some chance the final went to five sets, the US Open record from 1992, when Štefan Edberg defeated Michael Cheng in the semi-finals after five hours and 26 minutes, would be threatened.
And the longest final lasted four hours and 54 minutes - in 1988 between Ivan Lendl and Mats Vilander, and in 2012 between Andy Murray and Djokovic.
Djokovic reversed, had a 5:3 lead, but hit the ball too hard. Then he defended unreal, it seemed that he would lead 5:4, and then Medvedev phenomenally reached the shortened ball and took the lead 5:4.
Nole equalized with a phenomenal point, then reached the set-ball with a service winner and used it masterfully.
At the change of sides it is 3:3, Medvedev led 2:0 and 3:1.
Djokovic made two double service faults, Medvedev reached the break, and therefore the set-ball, but the Serbian saved himself with a service-volley game. After that, he used the third chance to win the tie-break.
Djokovic won the tie-break in an unreal way, but Medvedev secured at least a tie-break in the 2nd set with two great serves.
Medvedev moves brilliantly, catches everything and makes Djokovic struggle for every point. This time he succeeded and equalized at 5:5.
Medvedev does not lose a single point on his serve and leads 5:4 in the 2nd set.
Novak struggled, had difficulty moving and breathing, made two double service faults, and saved Medvedev's break chance with an incredible half volley. Zarto deserved the equalizer after a game that lasted over 12 minutes.
Djokovic gets a break chance after 40:15, but Medvedev gets away with a phenomenal serve, and then uses the third game ball.
Bonus video:
