NEW YORK (Reuters) – Third seed Daniil Medvedev continued his march towards a first Grand Slam title on Wednesday powering into the U.S. Open semi-finals with a clinical 7-6(6) 6-3 7-6(5) victory over childhood friend Andrey Rublev.
The first Russian duo in the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam since Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko at Roland Garros in 2007, Medvedev showed no hesitation during a ruthless, controlled display that sends him through to the last four without dropping a set.
No player in the Open Era has won the U.S. Open men’s title without dropping a set.
With Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal missing, and top seed Novak Djokovic having been disqualified for hitting a line judge with a ball, Medvedev showed why he is now the bookmakers’ favourite to win in New York.
The third seed never gave Rublev a break chance in the entire match while hammering down 16 aces.
Medvedev, who lost an epic five-setter to Nadal in last year’s final, will now await the winner between second seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem and Australian Alex de Minaur.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)
