Medvedev marches past Borges in New York

  • Posted: Sep 02, 2024

Is ‘hard-court specialist’ Daniil Medvedev ready to go all the way once more at the US Open?

The fifth seed and 2021 titlist continued his impressive 2024 campaign at the New York major with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 fourth-round triumph against Nuno Borges on Monday afternoon. Medvedev was in control for almost all of the one-hour, 51-minute encounter, during which his only brief moment of peril came when he trailed by a break early in the third set.

Since 2018, Medvedev has won more tour-level matches (268) on hard courts than anyone else on the ATP Tour: Andrey Rublev is second on that list with 210. The No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings certainly appeared at home inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, where he ground Borges down with his trademark retrieval skills and converted eight of 16 break points he earned.

“I try to work hard. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t,” Medvedev told his ATP Tour rival Nick Kyrgios in his on-court interview. “There are days when it is tougher to go out on court and practise, but I have the mentality that if the other guy practises more than me, I have less chances to win, and I want to win all the time. So I try to practise as much as I can.

“I’ve had a lot of success here at the US Open and last time I lost in the fourth round was against you. Good memories.”

[ATP APP]

Medvedev, who is bidding to win the same trophy twice for the first time this fortnight in New York, has now won all three of his Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Portuguese star Borges following his victories earlier this year at the Australian Open and in Halle. The 28-year-old, who has dropped just one set across his four matches so far, will play top seed Jannik Sinner or home favourite Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals.

His run in New York so far has also boosted Medvedev’s chances of qualifying for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals for the sixth consecutive year. The 20-time tour-level champion is currently fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, and he could jump above Carlos Alcaraz into third by clinching the US Open trophy.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

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