Novak Djokovic played a very bad match for his standards in the
US Open final and after the match, he admitted that it was not good enough.
Djokovic had a chance to make history however Daniil Medvedev had other plans. The Russian played superbly from start to finish and won the match in 3 sets much easier than anybody though possible. Djokovic was off from the start and never quite fond his rhytm. After the match he said:
“He was hitting his spots very well, he was very determined. You could feel that he was at the highest of his abilities. My legs were
not there, I was subpar, lot of unforced errors, no serve."
And indeed Djokovic could not even count on his serve to bail him out at times. It never got over 55 % overall with the 2nd set being especially bad at 47 %. Djokovic had chances in that 2nd set and had he used them the match could have gone in a different direction:
“Turning point was the start of the second set. I was very close to
break there. Who knows the trajectory of the match, with the crowd, but
he did so well, deserved to win. I am disappointed, I know I could have and should have
done better. Very tough loss, but I am happy for him, he is a nice guy
and deserves it."
Djokovic also reflected on the future saying that the 'old guys' are still there even though the transition is inevitable:
"Transition is inevitable, but us older guys, we are still there. I
want to keep going and try to win more Slams and play for my country,
those are the things that motivate me the most at this point. But I
think tennis is in good hands."