Novak Djokovic equalled Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles with a straight sets victory over Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final.
Already the most successful men's player of all-time having now won two more than Rafael Nadal and four more than Roger Federer, the Serbian bounced back from his Wimbledon defeat at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz back in July by pulling level with the legendary Australian.
The 36-year-old, who is back up to world number one, beat third seed Medvedev 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-3 for a fourth Flushing Meadows crown.
Following on from his Australian Open and French Open titles earlier in the year, it's the fourth time Djokovic has managed to win three Grand Slams in one season - with the other times being 2011, 2015 and 2021 - while he's also the oldest man to lift the US Open trophy.
Alcaraz's semi-final conqueror Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in the 2021 US Open final to deny him an historic calendar Grand Slam, put up a gutsy effort in the second set but after being edged out in the tie-break he ran out of steam in the third.
The match hinged on a marathon second set lasting 104 minutes, which was longer than both players’ entire first-round matches.
Djokovic won it after a tie-break to move 2-0 up and finally break Medvedev’s spirit, going on to gain a measure of revenge after the Russian denied him two years ago.
Djokovic, who missed last year’s championships due to his vaccine status, wore a tracksuit top adorned with the number 24 – which presumably would not have seen the light of day had he lost – for the trophy presentation.
He said: “I don’t know where to start, it obviously means the world to me. I’m really living my childhood dream to compete at the highest level in a sport that has given me and my family so much.
“I never imagined I would be standing here talking about 24 slams. But the last couple of years I felt I had a chance, a shot at history, so why not grab it?”
A Medvedev double-fault and a blistering backhand winner down the line gave Djokovic the early break point which he converted to love to subsequently take the first set in a relatively speedy 48 minutes.
But Medvedev, returning from about a quarter-of-a-mile behind the baseline, made Djokovic toil in the second set and it began to show with the favourite showing signs of fatigue.
After an hour and three quarters he produced his first break point of the match but Djokovic, with an obvious change of game plan in a bid to shorten the points, expertly snuffed it out with a big serve and an immaculate volley.
Medvedev had set point on the Djokovic serve but another volley at the net dealt with that, and when tie-break slipped away from the 27-year-old, the match soon followed.
Medvedev said: “First of all I want to ask Novak what are you still doing here? I mean come on.
“I don’t know when you are planning to slow down a little bit. I feel like I have a good career, I have 20 titles, but you have 24 grand slams. Wow!”
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