Ruthless Medvedev races into last 16; Tsitsipas upended by Alcaraz

The No 2 seed has not dropped a set en route to the fourth round but No 3 seed Tsitsipas is out

Daniil Medvedev AI / REUTERS / PANORAMIC

September 3, 2021

Daniil Medvedev is a man capable of mammoth rallies and epic matches but on Friday at the US Open he was all about speed as he raced into the last 16 with a 6-0, 6-4, 6-3 demolition of Spain’s Pablo Andujar.

The Russian, the runner-up in New York in 2019 and a finalist at the Australian Open earlier this year, dropped just five points in the first set and though Andujar fought hard, he never let up, clinching victory in one hour, 56 minutes.

A dominant performance from the No. 2 seed 👊@DaniilMedwed | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/ctLffpd296
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2021

“The main positive is to win in three sets,” Medvedev said. “Pablo was playing well, he had break points to get back to 5-5 in the second, but it’s the main positive to win in straight sets in less than two hours.”

Medvedev, who won 18 of 27 points at the net, now plays either Britain’s Dan Evans, who produced a brilliant fightback to beat Alexei Popyrin of Australia 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) after a great battle lasting more than four hours.

“It was tough,” Evans said. “Coming back from Wimbledon, where I was poor in the third round. My focus was really to put in a good performance today. I could have lost that match pretty easily. I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

A career day for Dan Evans!

The 🇬🇧 reaches Round 4 at the #USOpen for the first time, winning in a fifth-set tiebreak. pic.twitter.com/xMKFGtEoMr
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2021

Tsitsipas stunned by 18-year-old Alcaraz

There will be no first Grand Slam title at the US Open for Stefanos Tsitsipas after the No 3 seed was taken out by 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set thriller.

Tsitsipas looked set to get himself out of trouble when he won the fourth set 6-0 but Alcaraz regained his focus and hit some stunning groundstrokes as he clinched a remarkable 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-6 (5) victory.

The No 11 seed Diego Schwartzman also advanced, a straight-sets winner over Alex Molcan of Slovakia. He will next meet Botic van de Zandschulp, who followed up his upset win over Casper Ruud with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over Argentine Facundo Bagnis

Full Summary from the men’s draw on Friday at the US Open

Seeds winning at the US Open (3rd round): Daniil Medvedev (2), Diego Schwartzman (11), Felix Auger-Aliassime (12), Dan Evans (24)
Seeds beaten at the US Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Andrey Rublev (5), Roberto Bautista Agut (18)
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