NEW YORK—There was a time when Daniil Medvedev turned singles matches into crowded affairs.

In addition to battling opponents, Medvedev was often battling demons that haunted his head—sometimes provoking verbal battels with fans or coaches.

More: Masterful Medvedev Charges Into US Open Final

"There were many who would say, let's say, coaches or something, at the age of 16 or 14, I could get engaged during the match because I thought they, I don't know, clapped on a double-fault or something. I would scream on them," Medvedev recalled. "They would scream on me. Many of these people would say, Okay, the guy is completely crazy, he's never be a good tennis player. Which is maybe happened to some of the tennis players.

"I'm glad I proved them wrong."

The fifth-seeded Medvedev swept Grigor Dimitrov today to become the first Russian man to reach the US Open final since Marat Safin shocked Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final.

Medvedev said working with sport psychologist Francisca Dos and talking to his wife, Daria, whom he married a year ago, have helped him quell the craziness he once carried on court.

"She's helping me a lot," Medvedev said of his mental coach Dos. "I mean, to be honest, my wife helps me a lot. Again, just sitting there with myself. I lost a lot of matches in my career when I was getting crazy. You never know when you lose a match just because you lost it or because you get crazy and lost some concentration.

"You can never be sure about it. I was sitting after these matches, I was like, I don't want to lose these matches because I get crazy or because I lose some concentration because of the fans, because of the referees, I don't know, something that happens during the match. That's why. I want to lose matches because I was a worst tennis player on the court than my opponent. If I manage to do it every time, that's going to be great."

Photo credit: US Open Facebook