Medvedev Cruises Into US Open QF
Second seed Daniil Medvedev continued to lay his claim Sunday as the man most likely to stop World No. 1 Novak Djokovic from capturing the Grand Slam at the US Open as the Russian moved past Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old is yet to drop a set in New York and has been in strong form since the Tokyo Olympics, winning his fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto, before reaching the semi-finals in Cincinnati. Medvedev’s one-hour 43-minute victory over Evans, in which he hit with great depth and struck 24 winners, means he now holds a 15-2 record since Wimbledon.
“Today I liked my serve better,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “But there was one forehand return that for me was the best shot of the match, so if we take one shot it has to be this one, but if we take the whole match it has to be the serve.”
The Australian Open finalist, who has captured titles in Marseille and Mallorca this year, is aiming to win his first major at Flushing Meadows, a tournament in which he has fond memories at. In 2019, the 12-time tour-level titlist rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set against Rafael Nadal in his maiden major final, before not dropping a set en route to the last four last year.
“First time when I came back last year [after the Russian’s final defeat to Nadal in 2019] I had some good memories,” Medvedev added. “Now, I just want to make it to the final again to have another one to remember and hopefully a better one.”
Medvedev now leads Evans 1-0 in their ATPHead2Head Series and will face qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in the last eight as he aims to reach his fourth major semi-final after the Dutchman upset 11th seed Diego Schwartzman in five sets.
In a strong performance, the Russian sat just behind the baseline as he soaked up Evans’ pressure while also imposing his aggressive game, stepping inside the baseline to rifle his flat groundstrokes through the court as he dictated play.
After committing just six unforced errors in the first set to lead, Medvedev fired 12 winners in the second set to move towards victory. The Russian then did not drop a point behind his first serve (12/12) in the decider as he manoeuvred Evans around the court to secure his victory.
Evans was competing in the fourth round at the US Open for the first time in his fifth main draw appearance in New York. The 24th seed overcame Australian Alexei Popyrin in a fifth-set tie-break in the third round to set up his meeting with Medvedev.