Novak Djokovic cried with joy after winning the US Open and paid tribute to the late legend

(Novak Djokovic-Daniil Medvedev 6–3, 7–6 (7–5), 6–3) Novak Djokovic (36) beat Daniil Medvedev (27) to claim his 24th Grand Slam title. Then came the tears.

He first lay down on the field and then went up to the stands and hugged his mother, father, wife Jelena and actor Matthew McConaughey. Not least his two children, Tara and Stefan.

During the awards ceremony, he showed off the shirt he wears under his jacket. It showed a photo of late NBA star Kobe Bryant and himself along with text “Mamba forever”“Mamba forever”Kobe Bryant was called the “Black Mamba”.

– Kobe was a good friend. He was always by my side. Help me when I struggle. I thought it might be a nice memory to acknowledge here.

Djokovic avenged his loss to Medvedev in the 2021 US Open final (which prevented him from winning the title).Real grand slamReal grand slamWinning all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year»).

Also in 2023, he reached all the finals, winning three of them. He won the Australian Open and French Open, but lost the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.

• Djokovic won his 24th Grand Slam title, equaling Margaret Court’s record.
• Djokovic played his 36th Grand Slam final. 10 of them were at the US Open.
• At 36 years old, Djokovic became the oldest player ever to win a US Open in the Open Era.

-I’m living my dream. She has given me and my family so much. I come from difficult circumstances with war in our country. My parents sacrificed a lot to make me where I am today, an emotional Djokovic said.

– This is the family cup as much as it is my cup, he says, addressing his wife and two children.

– I had a childhood dream, the dream of winning Wimbledon. There were always new dreams and new goals. But I had no idea we would be standing here talking about 24 Grand Slam tournaments. But in reality it is so.

Novak Djokovic started equally well with two service winners in his first service game and went on to break on the first attempt.

Medvedev’s nightmare start continued when Djokovic served for 3-0. Medvedev held his next service game, a stunning fifth game, which ended with Djokovic increasing to 4-1. And so it went until 5-2 – and Eurosport commentator Christer Frank stated:

– Now Djokovic is impressing!

The first set ended 6-3 for the Serb, who served very well.

Daniil Medvedev got off to a much better start in the second set, with both players holding serve at 3-3. Yes, actually it was 6-6, although the last six games were tough.

There were long, brutal duels, and Djokovic looked more tired than the Russian. But he managed to equalize 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 (despite a set piece against him).

Djokovic once again proved unbeatable in the tiebreak: he was 1-3 down, but came back to win 7-5 and thus took the set 7-6.

It was an insanely physical final, with long, brutal exchanges of the ball. Medvedev needed medical assistance before the third set, while Djokovic was walking around trying to do his best.

Djokovic broke at 3-1 in the third set, but Medvedev immediately responded with a break. Didn’t help. Djokovic broke straight back to 4-2 and never looked back.

The last four years before that, in the context of the US Open, had been a nightmare for Djokovic:

Daniil Medvedev stopped defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. In 2022, Alcaraz defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final. This time Ruud was actually knocked out in the second round by an unknown Chinese.

Medvedev played his fourth Grand Slam final. Two of them competed in the US Open, all on hard courts.