De Minaur takes a second break!
He will serve for the set. Medvedev wins only one point in his service game.
For background, the former world No.1 has won 24 of his past 27 matches here, including his title-winning run of 2021.
“He’s an extreme kind of counter-puncher, a defensive specialist who finds ways to bait opponents into playing the game style he wants,” de Minaur said before this match.
“He’s an extremely good tactician and you know whenever you play him you have got to be ready for an absolute chess battle.”
Interesting de Minaur says that because Mats Wilander has described Medvedev as a “chess player on a tennis court”. He is losing today’s chess match.
De Minaur leads first set 5-2
The Demon’s confidence is rising …
… and his footwork is quickening. Medvedev is known for his workrate, for training across two courts and doing brutal things with medicine balls. But de Minaur’s raw speed and composure is absorbing pressure from the Russian and allowing him no time to do what he does best, robbing him of the unpredictability upon which he thrives.
De Minaur leads first set 4-2
Still on serve
Medvedev is notorious for big returns, for standing deep and sending them back almost as deep.
De Minaur tries to ace him to no avail, but a 0-15 is soon 40-15 when a Medvedev return falls uncharacteristically short – around the service line – and de Minaur is alert to the opportunity, scampering forward and placing a delicate drop shot out of reach.
2-2
Daniil Medvedev serves to Alex de Minaur during the fourth round of the US Open.Credit: AP
Medvedev gets himself out of a jam
Medvedev appears to have his service game in hand, until De Minaur claws back from 0-30 – partly via an excellent volley – and then fashions himself a break point.
An overcooked drop shot ensures he will not convert, and Medvedev proceeds to take the advantage and serve out the game with a big ace. We have already played 16 minutes for three games. This could be a marathon.
Medvedev leads 2-1
De Minaur holds serve
This is already showing signs of a war of attrition, with long baseline rallies underscoring the contest. De Minaur races out to 40-15 but concedes two points – or, more accurately, Medvedev wins them fair and square. Crosscourt for 10 shots, down the line for two, crosscourt again.
When it hits deuce, the Demon starts running Medvedev around with a dropshot, then a lob and another drop shot to finally outdo his opponent. Medvedev does his best to try something different now, rushing the net and then putting his shot straight into it De Minaur holds.
1-1
Alex de Minaur during his match against Daniil Medvedev at the US Open.Credit: Getty Images
Around the grounds
If you missed this morning’s action, Ons Jabeur has just been beaten by Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 6-4. The Tunisian was below her best in the fourth round, only winning three service games, but managed to break back late in the second, only for Zheng to convert serve out the match.
Andrey Rublev saw off Jack Draper in four sets, meaning the Russian will play either de Minaur or Medvedev in the quarter-finals, while Carlos Alcaraz knocked out Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets and will play either Alexander Zverev or Jannik Sinner.
Meanwhile, de Minaur and Medvedev have just gotten under way, with Medvedev dropping the first point before holding serve.
As Marc McGowan writes
Alex De Minaur infamously lost his first 18 matches to top-five opposition, helping create an unwanted narrative that he was a good player who would always fall short against the tour’s elite.
But then everything changed: he beat world No.3 Daniil Medvedev – who had just taken down a series of stars to win in Vienna – in November last year at the Paris Masters.
“Why do it in the first 18, eh?” de Minaur mused afterwards.
De Minaur has since secured three more such wins: over Rafael Nadal at this year’s United Cup, Andrey Rublev at Rotterdam in February, then Medvedev again only a few weeks ago in Toronto on his way to reaching his first Masters 1000 final.
Read the full story here.
The Demon has been in fine fettle at Flushing Meadows
The 24-year-old has dropped only a single set all tournament – in his opening match against Timofey Skatov. Since then he has made short, three-set work of China’s Wu Yibing and Nicolás Jarry, and it was the manner with which he destroyed the fancied Chilean that signalled his intent.
The fourth round of grand slams has been a cursed stage for de Minaur in his career to date, having exited four of five times in the round of 16. The fifth – his only quarter-final appearance – was at the US Open in 2020 but, at the height of Covid, the competition was not at its stiffest.
But the quietly spoken baseliner has previously said he wants to be a top-10 player, and is finally on the verge of becoming one, currently ranked 13 (equal to Nick Kyrgios’s career-high ranking) and appearing set to rise further.
Medvedev, meanwhile, is still ranked third behind only Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz and leads the head to head 4-2. De Minaur has, however, won the two most recent meetings.
Good morning!
Welcome to our live coverage of the US Open. But not just any live coverage, that of Australia’s own Alex de Minaur against Daniil Medvedev.
Get yer cup of coffee ready. Crack open yer chocolate-coated almonds muesli and Lite White, because this tie could throw up anything.
With countryman Rinky Hijikata having fallen to Frances Tiafoe, de Minaur is the only Australian left in the draw.
