It was a momentous occasion for Daniil Medvedev as he won his first Grand Slam beating Novak Djokovic in the finals of the US Open. After winning the first major, the Russian showered heavy praise on Djokovic as he called him the ‘greatest of all time”. He even apologized for denying him the chance to win the Calendar Grand Slam.

Medvedev defeated Djokovic 6-4,6-4,6-4 in the finals and ended his massive 27-match winning streak in the Grand Slams. The Russian was dominant from start to finish as he was broken only once.

At the presentation ceremony, both players lauded each other. While Djokovic admitted that Medvedev will end up on the podium many times in his career, the Russian called him the greatest for achieving so much this year.

“I just want to say this for what you’ve achieved this year and throughout your career,” Medvedev said. “I’ve never said this to anybody but I’ll say it right now. For me, you are the greatest player in tennis history.”

For a change, it was nice to see the crowd at the Arthur Ashe backing Djokovic. The Serb was on the cusp of history and the fans were behind him from start to end. Apart from the Calendar Grand Slam, the Serb also wants to get to 21 Grand Slam before his rivals, hence the fans backed him even more.

Medvedev did not get support from the crowd but he was gracious in addressing them. He admitted that the crowd spurred him on and gave him the energy to win.

“I want to say sorry to you fans and Novak because we all know what he was going for today,” Medvedev said in his victory speech. “You fans gave me a lot of energy, starting from 2019 until now. It helped me even today.”

The ceremony ended on a sweet note as the Russian spoke about his third wedding anniversary which happened to be on the day of the finals. Medvedev was struggling to look for a perfect gift when he realised that winning the US Open will probably be the best one. Hence it worked as a motivation for him.

I want to finish the speech on a sweet note,” Medvedev said. “It’s the third anniversary for me and my wife today. During the tournament, I couldn’t think of a present. After the semis, I thought I had to find a present fast. The only thing I thought was that I did not have a present if I lost the final, so I had to win the match!”