2021 US Open

Indeed, his race might well be run and age catches up eventually. Thought there was a touch of that on the podium in his post match address to the crowd, a realisation that his ability to dominate is fading. As for smashing the racquet during the match and the tears etc., put that down to the gamesmanship that he's indulged in over recent years. Thankfully Medvedev was strong enough to ignore that.

I picked Medvedv to win....woke up this morning quite happy....Nole is just not as quick around the court as he used to be

I was checking Twitter at lunchtime and unfortunately Emma Raducanus win which has gotten mostly positive reaction is being used by both left and right wing people to justify their point of view of Britain. It’s ridiculous really.

I know.

Well done to Medvedev, didn't think he would do it, but, fair play to him and won surprisingly easily too. While it's disappointing for Djokovic, it is a good result for men's tennis overall. It was becoming too predictable over the last few years, at GS level outside of Nadal on clay there wasn't anyone really challenging Djokovic, this is the first GS we've seen first Zverev and then Medvedev really stand up to Djokovic. Medvedev probably owes Zverev for pushing Djokovic in the semi final too.

Looking to next year Medvedev and Zverev too can be seen as genuine challengers to Djokovic now, other players will also gain confidence and belief from this weekend. Djokovic's aura of invincibility at GS level has now been dented somewhat, it'll be interesting to see how he reacts. He will still be a serious contender at all 4 slams, especially AO and Wimbledon(where he'll be strong favourite).

For Djokovic it's certainly not the end, but, the manner of his defeat last night will be of some concern to him, when he looked for answers he came up with very little, a lot of that is down to how well Medvedev played of course. We'll never really know how much his exertions at the Olympics took out of him and if he fully recovered from them, also the pressure of the calendar slam seemed to affect him at the USO, we're so used to him pulling through the slams regardless of circumstances that I expected him to find a way again.

Last night's result certainly sets up an interesting 2022.

Yeah all that kind of stuff is insufferable. You can't get away from policies in any area of life these day, and it's not just on Twitter, alas.

You could be right, but I still think it was an odd thing to say on behalf of DM. Then again it could be the case that he was all over the place mentally after winning his first grand slam. His playing possum thing when he won was certainly a bit odd. I was worried he fractured a bone :D

No I get that but I'm just taking everything into the equation. Many have said that Fed had it easy that led to his number of wins, but you could equally say Djokovic had it easy in recent years too. I'd totally agree with you that Djokovic has the will to recover from yesterdays defeat and rise again. The fun part is waiting to see what pans out.

Would agree, think age was a factor, giving away best part of a decade to Medvedev, regardless of advances in sport science, age is still a big factor. At elite level sport a 25 year old should at the very least match a 34 year old, but most likely outlast them. Recovery also slows with age ( especially after a tough match).

A younger Djokovic most likely wouldn't have dropped all those sets on the way to the final, would recover better from the semi final and be fresher for the final, all those percentages add up, a fresher Djokovic ( both mentally and physically) would have performed better and the match would have taken on a different complexion.

Djokovic is far from done, but, getting to that age when his performances are likely to become less consistent than they have been.