Djokovic vows to go 'all in' for slam bid

NEW YORK • Twenty-seven down, just one more to go.

With a five-set win over Alexander Zverev of Germany on Friday night, Novak Djokovic moved to within a single match victory of pulling off the most hallowed achievement in tennis.

After winning the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon this year and knocking out his first six challengers at the US Open, the 34-year-old now has to defeat only Daniil Medvedev of Russia in today's final to become the first man to win the Grand Slam in a calendar year since Rod Laver did it 52 years ago.

And he got there in style, coming from behind early on, then surviving an onslaught before clinching a gruelling 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win.

Today, Djokovic will take on Medvedev and play for history. He is tied with his biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, in the race for the most career Grand Slam titles with 20, a competition that he is determined to win so he can cement his legacy as the greatest player ever.

At this point, it is nearly impossible to believe that Federer, 40, and Nadal, 35, who are battling age and injury, can win a calendar-year Grand Slam. It is the thing that would make Djokovic the biggest of the "Big Three" forever but he is not getting ahead of himself.

"The job is not done," insisted the world No. 1, who is the oldest US Open finalist since Andre Agassi at 35 in 2005 and could be the oldest US Open champion since Ken Rosewall at 35 in 1970.

"The excitement is there. The motivation is there, without a doubt. Probably more than ever. But I have one more to go.

"There's only one match left. All in, all in. Let's do it. I'm going to put my heart and my soul and my body and my head into that one.

"I'm going to treat the next match like it is the last match of my career."

That next match will be a rematch of this year's Australian Open final, after world No. 2 Medvedev sent off 21-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in his semi-final clash.

1 WORLD RANKING 2

20 GRAND SALM TITLES 0

85 CAREER ATP TITLES 12

Winner (2011, 2015, 2018) BEST U.S. OPEN RESULT Runner-up (2019)

6 SETS DROPPED 1

17hr 37min TIME ON COURT 12hr 2min

5 HEAD TO HEAD 3

DID YOU KNOW?

Fluent in Russian, French and English, Medvedev's favourite football team are Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. He has supported them since he was 12.

10 Djokovic has dropped the opening set in a Grand Slam 10 times this season. But he won all of those matches, the most by any man in a year in the Open era

Djokovic will have to be wary of the Russian's effective playing style - the 25-year-old hit big serves against Auger-Aliassime while neutralising his opponent's power by standing in the outer realms of the court to return.

But he leads Medvedev 5-3 in their head-to-head record, following his straight-set victory in Melbourne in February.

"It's going to be a battle against another guy who has been in tremendous form," said Djokovic.

"On the other side, I know what my strengths are. I've worked over the years to perfect my game so I can have literally no flaws.

"Every player has some weaknesses in his game. There's always something you can improve. I want to have as complete of an all-around game as I possibly can so that when I'm playing someone, I can adjust on any surface.

"I can come up with different styles of play. I can tactically implement the game that I need for that particular match in order to win."

Medvedev has carved a comfortable path through the draw to reach his third Grand Slam final, dropping only a single set in six matches and wrapping up his win over Auger-Aliassime in a brisk 2hr 4min.

But he is still searching for his first Major title, after also losing to Nadal in the 2019 US Open final.

"The more you lose something, the more you want to win it, the more you want to gain it and take it," he said. "I lost two finals. I want to win the third one."

He also brushed off the significance of today's final for Djokovic, saying that he is more concerned about his own victory than stopping the Serb from making history.

"If I can make this, I'll probably be in the history books a little bit somewhere like not letting him do this," he said.

"But I don't really care about it. I think it's more about him, that it affects him.

I'm just going to throw it everything and I'm definitely not going to be thinking about Grand Slam or whatever."

NYTIMES, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE