First time Grand Slam winner
Daniil Medvedev
Danil Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the US Open final to win the first Grand Slam title in his career. He is the first Russian champion at this tournament since Marat Safin in 2000 and with this title Medvedev denied Djokovic a calendar Grand Slam.
Medvedev dropped just one set in New York which was against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarter-finals. After a very consistent season the Russian player became the first player outside Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal to finish year-end number 2 since Andy Roddick in 2004.
Medvedev also clinched his fourth career Masters 1000 in Toronto over Reilly Opelka (following Cincinnati and Shanghai in 2019 and Paris Bercy in 2020), and two ATP 250 titles in Marseille and Mallorca.
In his third appearance at the ATP Finals Medvedev reached the semifinals after winning all of his group matches in the deciding set against Hubert Hurkacz, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner (after saving two match points). Medvedev beat Casper Ruud in straight sets in the semifinal before losing to Alexander Zverev in the final.
“I feel a lot of happiness. That’s my first Grand Slam title. I don’t know how I am going to feel if I win a second one or a third one. It means a lot to me”, said Medvedev.
The breakthrough of the year
Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini beat Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinal at Wimbledon to become the first Italian player to reach the final in the history of this tournament and the first Italian Grand Slam men’s singles finalist since Adriano Panatta at 1976 Roland Garros.
Matteo Berrettini: “I have no words. I played a great semifinal match against Hurkacz. I enjoyed the crowd; my family and my entire team were at Wimbledon. I think I never dreamed about this, because it was much for a dream. It’s my first Grand Slam final. I am just so happy for everything. My year started in a good way, with the final at the ATP Cup in Australia. Then I got injured again. I saw those ghosts again of my body kind of struggling. Again, I came back stronger. I think I fully deserve to reach the Wimbledon final”.
One day after the historic Wimbledon final Berrettini was invited to join the celebrations of the Italian football Team, who won the European Championships title by beating England at Wembley, at the Quirinale Palace, the official residence of Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Italian Republic.
At the Madrid Mutua Open he reached his first Masters 1000 final before losing to Alexander Zverev in three sets.
Berrettini won the biggest title of his career at Queen’s in London (his first trophy at ATP 500 level) after beating Andy Murray in the second round, Dan Evans in the quarter finals and Cameron Norrie in the final. The Rome-native player also claimed the ATP 250 title at the Serbia Open in Belgrade.
At the French Open Berrettini became the first Italian male tennis player to reach the fourth round in every Grand Slam tournament. He lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets in the quarter finals at both Roland Garros and the US Open. He achieved his career-high number 7 after reaching the US Open quarter final, becoming the highest-ranked Italian player since Corrado Barazzutti in 1978.
