No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev, the only former champion left on the men’s side, rolled into the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Monday, sweeping unseeded Nuno Borges 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 in New York.
Medvedev, who won the U.S. Open in 2021, won 78 percent of his first-serve points (36 of 46) and saved 4 of 5 break points against the overmatched Borges of Portugal, who committed 51 unforced errors to just 20 for the powerful Russian.
“I try to work hard. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t,” Medvedev said in a post-match interview. “There are days when it is tougher to go out on court and practice, but I have the mentality that if the other guy practices more than me, I have less chances to win, and I want to win all the time. So I try to practice as much as I can.
“I’ve had a lot of success here at the U.S. Open and last time I lost in the fourth round was against (Nick Kyrgios). Good memories.”
Borges finally got a point in the second set, going up 1-0 in his second appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam event. He then committed several mistakes that Medvedev capitalized on to go up two sets.
Borges also took the lead in the third set, but after a brief delay due to a fire alarm, Medvedev bounced back to take five of the next games to finish off the match.
Medvedev will face Jannik Sinner at a Grand Slam for the third time this year after the No. 1 seed from Italy swept past No. 14 Tommy Paul 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Sinner hit 10 aces with just one double fault. Paul saved 10 of 14 break points and held a 33-29 edge in total winners but committed 42 unforced errors to help Sinner’s cause.
Sinner defeated Medvedev in the Australian Open final in January to earn his first career Grand Slam title. Medvedev got a measure of revenge by eliminating Sinner in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Both matches went five sets.
“Yeah, tough match,” Sinner said of the next round. “It’s gonna be a lot of rallies, so hopefully (I’ll) be ready physically. It’s gonna be a physical match, also (mentally).”
In other men’s Round of 16 play, No. 25 Jack Draper cruised past unseeded Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 to become the first British man to reach the U.S. Open quarters since the newly retired Andy Murray in 2016.
“I obviously miss Andy. Shoutout to Andy,” Draper said. “What an unbelievable career the guy’s had. Just an icon of the game. I miss him in the change rooms. I miss being next to his stinky shoes and all his stinky clothes. Andy’s a legend, and if I have half the career he had, then I’ll be a happy man.”
Draper posted 11 aces to Machac’s five and won 78 percent of his first-serve points (29 of 37) and landed 36 winners to 23 for his Czech opponent. Draper also saved all six break points he faced.
Draper, who last year lost in the fourth round, will face No. 10 Alex de Minaur, who defeated Jordan Thompson 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-Australian match later in the day.
“I’ve got so much respect for Tommo,” de Minaur said after the win. “We’ve grown up together and he’s been like a big brother to me. I really appreciate everything he’s done for me. He’s a competitor and my Davis Cup teammate.”
After de Minaur dominated the first set in just 28 minutes, Thompson hit three aces and never faced break point in the second set as he evened the match.
Thompson held leads of 3-1 and 5-4 in a back-and-forth fourth set before de Minaur won the final three games.
It’s the third straight Grand Slam in which de Minaur reached the quarterfinals, though at Wimbledon in July, he had to pull out of a faceoff with Novak Djokovic because of a hip injury he suffered late in his fourth-round match.
–Field Level Media
