Medvedev - Easiest Path To A Slam Final Ever?

what say ye?

  • yes

    Votes: 32 55.2%
  • no

    Votes: 26 44.8%

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
the red sea has parted for medvedev...never seen an easier path to a slam before. meanwhile djokovic has to go through Berrettini, Zverev, and Medvedev in succession to make history. the odds are stacked against the world's no 1...tennis gods don't want the calender grand slam to happen smh
 

Tennisfan339

Professional
If he plays Alcaraz in Semi, it will look like one of the easiest path, yeah.
If it's Auger-Aliassime, he will have faced 2 seeds (with Evans), so I'm sure you'll find easier path.

If Medvedev loses the final, it will turn out the easy path wasn't a good thing after all. The gap of level will be brutal for him. It was the case in USO last year against Thiem and in Australia this year. The same happened to Djokovic in the Olympics. We will see what happens
 

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I mean there was only two 'good' players you could run into. Zverev and Berrettini, and Djokovic got them both. I don't know that it makes Medvedev's path the easiest ever. Sets 3 and 4 were brilliantly contested today, and Botic beat both Ruud and Schwartzman who were supposed to be the 'tough' seeds Medvedev was meant to run in to.

Until the other week Rublev had never taken a set off Medvedev, he does not have the patience to hang with him in best of 5, and Tsitsipas could barely beat the guy with the fake hip, and Medvedev owns him too. There's not much way you could have made things tougher. The fact he has to play Djokovic in the final probably single handedly makes his draw tougher than Novak's overall. :-D
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
the red sea has parted for medvedev...never seen an easier path to a slam before. meanwhile djokovic has to go through Berrettini, Zverev, and Medvedev in succession to make history. the odds are stacked against the world's no 1...tennis gods don't want the calender grand slam to happen smh
Possibly. Will have to see his SF. But if alcaraz then yes.
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
Tsitsipas getting eliminated early helped. But yes, I said when the draw came out that Daniil's draw was the easiest of the top 4 seeds.
 

SonnyT

Legend
Medvedev will only be a moderate favorite over either FAA/Alcaraz. He has stumbled several times before.
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
True. If they can beat Djoker. But they can't.
Of course they can! Djokovic doesn't always win - he is 3-5 in finals at the USO, and hasn't made it to the finals 8 times. Maybe he wins on Sunday or maybe he doesn't - simple as that. But it's not a certainty, not at all!
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Of course they can! Djokovic doesn't always win - he is 3-5 in finals at the USO, and hasn't made it to the finals 8 times. Maybe he wins on Sunday or maybe he doesn't - simple as that. But it's not a certainty, not at all!
Ngbs vs Djoker... Always Djoker. Zverev and med are 0-3 in slam finals and 0-2 in uso finals.
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
Ngbs vs Djoker... Always Djoker. Zverev and med are 0-3 in slam finals and 0-2 in uso finals.
That was then this is NOW. This moment, where Medvedev and Zverev are playing the best they have ever played. They CAN win - doesn't mean they will but they absolutely CAN win!
 

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
It's among the weakest, yeah.

Novak's US Open 2016 final path was another one...

1R: (PR) Janowicz
2R: Vesely (W/O)
3R: Youzhny (RET)
4R: Edmund
QF: (9) Tsonga (RET)
SF: (10) Monfils

Fed's AO 2018 one wasn't so hot either:

1R: Bedene
2R: Struff
3R: (29) Gasquet
4R: Fucsovics
QF: (19) Berdych
SF: Chung (RET)

And the 1973 edition of Wimbledon is pretty well-known for being probably the weakest Major in the Open Era outside of the pre-80's AOs. It might even be the weakest even including those. Here's Kodes's path to and including the final:

1R: (LL) Hirai
2R: (LL) Marzano
3R: (Q) Yuill
4R: (LL) Mukerjea
QF: Amritraj
SF: (3) Taylor
F: (4) Metreveli

Due to the boycott of the tournament, 12 of the 16 seeded players withdrew so I wouldn't pay too much attention to the (3) and (4) seeds here. Had the original seeding been in effect, Taylor would be seeded #16 and Metreveli #13.
 

Curtennis

Hall of Fame
There only ever was 3 legit contenders.
Zverev, Medvedev and Djokavic. Based on the way tournaments work, someone was gonna have to play 2 of the 3 in order to win it all.
I hardly consider Berretini a bigger challenge to djokavic than most any other top 20 player, FAA included.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
how many have haas, davidenko, baggy combo won?
Weak reply, as expected (since it's you). Check out the rank of all the players Federer played in his first 20 slam finals and get back with us (make sure and do your homework). 90% of his slam opponents were ranked #1 in their career. And you might want to learn how to correctly spell Davydenko. ;)
 

pj80

Legend
Weak reply, as expected (since it's you). Check out the rank of all the players Federer played in his first 20 slam finals and get back with us (make sure and do your homework). 90% of his slam opponents were ranked #1 in their career. And you might want to learn how to correctly spell Davydenko. ;)
c'mon man, you know damn well, Berretini, Zverev and Medvedev would absolutely destroy all those players
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
From just memory I'd say Sampras 00 Wimbledon run, faced nobody and got a Qualifier for the SF (Voltchkov) before getting Rafter after a 5 set marathon with Andre and was lucky to win the 2nd set tiebreak which catapulted him to that 7th crown (no way he beats Pat down 0-2).

After that it gets dicey but Rafa's 2017 USO is rightfully considered one of the weakest, facing nobody including a 19 year old Rublev in QF then comeback Potro who had gotten through Thiem in a 5 set thriller and a tight 4 set affair with Roger. But people look at that now and think Rublev and Potro automatically mean decent draw. Fed for AO18 got Berdych in QF and then Hyeon who retired at 2-5 in the 2nd, so Fed dropped 0 sets on route.

Now with this year's Medvedev, I'd say Gasquet and Andujar in the first 3 rounds is a mid-range draw, not exactly a cakewalk but then Evans and a Qualifier before a 20 year old 12th seed in Felix, well, I still take Pete's 00 Wimbledon for sure and year probably Rafa's 17 USO.
 
It's among the weakest, yeah.

Novak's US Open 2016 final path was another one...

1R: (PR) Janowicz
2R: Vesely (W/O)
3R: Youzhny (RET)
4R: Edmund
QF: (9) Tsonga (RET)
SF: (10) Monfils

Fed's AO 2018 one wasn't so hot either:

1R: Bedene
2R: Struff
3R: (29) Gasquet
4R: Fucsovics
QF: (19) Berdych
SF: Chung (RET)

And the 1973 edition of Wimbledon is pretty well-known for being probably the weakest Major in the Open Era outside of the pre-80's AOs. It might even be the weakest even including those. Here's Kodes's path to and including the final:

1R: (LL) Hirai
2R: (LL) Marzano
3R: (Q) Yuill
4R: (LL) Mukerjea
QF: Amritraj
SF: (3) Taylor
F: (4) Metreveli

Due to the boycott of the tournament, 12 of the 16 seeded players withdrew so I wouldn't pay too much attention to the (3) and (4) seeds here. Had the original seeding been in effect, Taylor would be seeded #16 and Metreveli #13.
From just memory I'd say Sampras 00 Wimbledon run, faced nobody and got a Qualifier for the SF (Voltchkov) before getting Rafter after a 5 set marathon with Andre and was lucky to win the 2nd set tiebreak which catapulted him to that 7th crown (no way he beats Pat down 0-2).

After that it gets dicey but Rafa's 2017 USO is rightfully considered one of the weakest, facing nobody including a 19 year old Rublev in QF then comeback Potro who had gotten through Thiem in a 5 set thriller and a tight 4 set affair with Roger. But people look at that now and think Rublev and Potro automatically mean decent draw. Fed for AO18 got Berdych in QF and then Hyeon who retired at 2-5 in the 2nd, so Fed dropped 0 sets on route.

Now with this year's Medvedev, I'd say Gasquet and Andujar in the first 3 rounds is a mid-range draw, not exactly a cakewalk but then Evans and a Qualifier before a 20 year old 12th seed in Felix, well, I still take Pete's 00 Wimbledon for sure and year probably Rafa's 17 USO.
Agassi at AO 03 and Nadal at RG 17 had terrible prefinal draws too.
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
Agassi at AO 03 and Nadal at RG 17 had terrible prefinal draws too.

I constantly forget Nadal's FO draws. It's not like they would have made a difference I think is key. But Agut and Thiem made 17 decent unless you meant 18 or 19. Agassi with Grosjean & Ferreira was meh.

Still take 00 Sampras. Especially on grass people really need to review that draw.
 

Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil

Talk Tennis Guru
Any Novak fan who pretends Fedal would be easier than these NextGen is lying to themselves.
Goes without saying they would have been tougher in the past. In their current state however what threat do they pose? Federer has barely even played over the last two seasons while Nadal hasn't taken even a set on HC in this match up for the last eight years and is vulnerable against other contenders as well.
 
Goes without saying they would have been tougher in the past. In their current state however what threat do they pose? Federer has barely even played over the last two seasons while Nadal hasn't taken even a set on HC in this match up for the last eight years and is vulnerable against other contenders as well.
Exactly right. People aren’t grasping the fact it’s about the here and now. Fedal are washed out, old and injured and unlikely to be a big threat again bar maybe Rafa on clay. Murray and wawrinka are not what they were and haven’t been for years since injuries and decline. Thiem is injured.

On current form and physical shape Novak right now has the hardest opponents (Berra/Zverev/meddy) he could face to win this title. They have all done well in a lot of events this year. They all in form, in prime of their careers and have big weapons and especially Zverev and meddy are elite hard court players now.
 

MS_07

Semi-Pro
the red sea has parted for medvedev...never seen an easier path to a slam before. meanwhile djokovic has to go through Berrettini, Zverev, and Medvedev in succession to make history. the odds are stacked against the world's no 1...tennis gods don't want the calender grand slam to happen smh


all the yey sayers here forgot what happened at USO - a few years back.
 

RaulRamirez

Legend
Upsets happen, and overall, seems like Med has benefitted. But, I never get too cranked up over original draws, and how upsets or withdrawals can change a player's "draw".

Going in, Tsit and Zv, on paper, were the two biggest challengers to Novak and Med. Zv looked like the form player coming in, and he's been in good form. But would it have been so shocking for Zv to have been knocked out early, and Tsit still lurking?.

Spit happens.
 

spottishwood

Hall of Fame
c'mon man, you know damn well, Berretini, Zverev and Medvedev would absolutely destroy all those players
So you mean Meddy, berry, zverev can defeat this mug easily?
images
 

Wurm

Professional
2016 US Open. Hard to believe anyone will have it easier than this:

Round 1: Janowicz (struggled all season with a knee injury).
Round 2: Vesely (w/o).
Round 3: Youzhny (retired after 6 games).
Round 4: Kyle Edmund
QF: Tsonga (retired after 2 sets)
SF: Monfils (quite literally clowned around).
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
the red sea has parted for medvedev...never seen an easier path to a slam before. meanwhile djokovic has to go through Berrettini, Zverev, and Medvedev in succession to make history. the odds are stacked against the world's no 1...tennis gods don't want the calender grand slam to happen smh
OP has amnesia concerning 2017 USO. If Meddle is to win the title, his last two matches are vs #12 seed and most probably one of the #6/4/1 seeds. The Nadal played two seeds the whole way and they were #24 and #28. Meddle’s 4R vs Evans was equal in seeding to Nadal’s SF. That means three matches at Nadal’s toughest or significantly tougher level.
 
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stringertom

Bionic Poster
2016 US Open. Hard to believe anyone will have it easier than this:

Round 1: Janowicz (struggled all season with a knee injury).
Round 2: Vesely (w/o).
Round 3: Youzhny (retired after 6 games).
Round 4: Kyle Edmund
QF: Tsonga (retired after 2 sets)
SF: Monfils (quite literally clowned around).
Undercooked false dawn Joe Kovic exposed in the final vs Slaminal! Literally stole his sole. OK, it was his toe.
 

Djoker458

Rookie
I still don’t understand why the top 8 seeds aren’t broken down like this.

1,4,5,8 on one side. 2,3,6,7 on the other side.
 

daddy

Legend
WOW!!! What a vicious draw. Remind us again how many slams these three players have won again?

Asking for a friend.

Real question is how many slams will they win ? Obviously if they end up as multiple slam winners ( say at least two of them, med & zed ), when you look back at this draw in 5 - 10 years time you'd say "well it was a tough draw" ..
 

topher

Hall of Fame
Goes without saying they would have been tougher in the past. In their current state however what threat do they pose? Federer has barely even played over the last two seasons while Nadal hasn't taken even a set on HC in this match up for the last eight years and is vulnerable against other contenders as well.

Novak fans were predicting he had zero chance at RG when he drew both Fedal in the draw, so I don’t much believe your false bravado now.

As for Djokodal, they’ve only played 7 hard court matches since 2013, none of them were in 2017 (Novak’s worst year), while 4 were in 2015-2016 (Rafa’s worst period).

They’ve only played 2 HC matches over the past 5 years and the last set went to a tiebreak. None of these matches were at the USO, Rafa’s best HC slam and Novak’s worst.

If Rafa’s foot was healthy, Novak fans would definitely not prefer him to Medvedev in the final. It’s a no-brainer.
 

irishnadalfan1983

Hall of Fame
Intersting to see if this benefits him in the final (presuming he makes it)......Not having such a tough draw/without pressure orf potentially facing Rafa/Fed or actually facing them.....Just has to take out one of the big 3....
 
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