No. 2 Daniil Medvedev into 3rd Grand Slam final at U.S. Open

NEW YORK — Daniil Medvedev twice was a point from finding himself tied at a set apiece in his U.S. Open semifinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The No. 2-seeded Medvedev surged out of that tight spot, beat a mistake-prone Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, on Friday and is headed to his third Grand Slam final.

“A strange match, a little bit, in the second set, where I think everybody felt like it’s going to be one-set-all, and you never know where the match is going to go,” said Medvedev, who trailed 5-2 in the second. “Managed to save the set points. He missed one volley; I made one good point. And the match turned around completely.”

All in all, this encounter amounted to an opening act ahead of the headliner: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the second semifinal Friday night.

That, Medvedev told the crowd, figured to be “a great match, so I advise everybody to see it.” He planned to watch it himself after having some dinner delivered.

Djokovic began the day 26-0 at major tournaments in 2021, with titles at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon and his sights on becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam. Laver was seated in the President’s Box at Arthur Ashe Stadium for Friday’s matches.

Medvedev, a 25-year-old from Russia, was the runner-up to Djokovic at Melbourne Park in February and to Rafael Nadal at Flushing Meadows in 2019. This was Medvedev’s third consecutive trip to the U.S. Open semifinals.

“I don’t think I played my best today,” said Medvedev, who has dropped one setthrough six matches over the past two weeks, “but I’m really happy to be in the final.”

The 12th-seeded Auger-Aliassime is a 21-year-old from Canada who is coached by Nadal’s uncle, Toni, and was appearing in a major semifinal for the first time.

Maybe the newness of it all affected him. Surely, Medvedev’s play did, too.

Auger-Aliassime finished with 39 unforced errors — including 10 double-faults, three in the opening game alone — and just 17 winners.

Compare that to Medvedev’s numbers, built with behind-the-baseline court coverage and slick strokes: 37 winners, 25 unforced errors.

“I had to play my best level — and even better — if I wanted to get a chance to win today. I didn’t do it long enough,” said Auger-Aliassime, who was presented by the U.S. Tennis Association with its 2021 Sportsperson Award trophy Friday.

Medvedev and Zverev are in search of a first Grand Slam title. Djokovic, meanwhile, was trying to win a 21st overall title from the sport’s four most important tournaments, which would break the men’s career mark she shares with Nadal and Roger Federer.