Steps towards: Medvedev and Rublev reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, where they will play with each other

Rublev's revenge

Russian tennis players continue their triumphant march in the US Open singles.

On the eighth day of the competition, Andrei Rublev was the first to enter the courts, with Matteo Berrettini as his opponent.

Some experts, after the disqualification of Novak Djokovic, said that they consider the Italian one of the contenders for the title.

Moreover, the Russian suffered one of the most offensive defeats from a 24-year-old Roman just at last year's Major in New York.

Therefore, he had to prove that that failure was an accident.

Rublev coped with his task, although at first there were fears that the match would be held according to last year's scenario.

Berrettini made a break in the third game, and then took his serve without any problems.

The advantage of the eighth racket of the world was formed from the greater number of actively won goals (13-8) and the difference in double faults (1-4).

This was enough to bring the first game to victory.

But then the situation changed.

The Russian managed to pull himself together after a bad start and take control of the game into his own hands.

In this he was partly helped by his opponent, who began to make more mistakes, including in the first serve.

In the fourth game, the Italian for the first time in the tournament gave his serve, which finally knocked him down.

Seth stayed for Rublev.

This success inspired the Russian, and in the two remaining games he only continued to gain momentum, surpassing his opponent in most indicators.

And although in the end the Russian and the Italian were equal in terms of actively scored points (34-34), the number of unforced errors speaks for itself - 44 against 28 in favor of Berrittini.

Rublev confidently brought the match to victory - 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 3 - and for the second time in his career he reached the quarterfinals at the Grand Slam tournaments, and he did it again in New York.

In 2017, he also spent 13 sets on passing the first four stages, but then was forced to surrender in a battle with the future winner of the tournament Rafael Nadal.

“Delightful feeling.

This is a really special moment for me.

I've been waiting for this for five months.

Last year Berrettini began to act aggressively, and I was not ready for this.

When I woke up, I was already losing 0: 2 in sets.

But today, after the first game, I managed to return, ”the Russian shared his impressions of the victory.

Medvedev's success

Daniil Medvedev spent much less time reaching the quarterfinals - only 98 minutes, thereby confirming his status as one of the main favorites of the tournament.

He dealt with Francis Tiafoe with a score of 6: 4, 6: 1, 6: 0.

In the first set, the American held on solely due to the fact that, unlike the Russian, he had the first serve.

At the same time, this did not prevent the last year's finalist from making two breaks in the first seven games.

Tiafoe churned out one unforced error after another (14) and for a while he jerked up only at the end of the set, but he could not save him.

Having finally adapted to his opponent, the Russian did not leave him a chance and in the next two games he gave up only one game.

Tiafoe was so depressed that in the final set he could not actively win a single point, and gave his last two serves to zero.

The confidence with which Daniel moves along the tournament bracket is admirable.

He remains the only participant in the tournament who did not give up a single set to his opponents, and also never allowed any of them to win at least five games in one game.

It is not surprising that the Russian was satisfied with his game, although he noted that he still has to work on the first serve.

“I was lucky to have made an early break.

Then he relaxed a little, but after that he demonstrated incredible tennis.

I play better with each match, I hope it will continue in the future.

I know that in total it is necessary to hold seven meetings and it is not easy to progress in each of them, ”Medvedev said.

Unfortunately, after the quarterfinal stage, one of the Russians will have to go home - in the next round, Medvedev and Rublev will face off against each other.

Of course, the future rivals are well known, although in the official matches they met only twice.

Both times, the victory remained with the fifth racket of the world.

It should be noted that for the first time in the history of the US Open, two Russians will meet in the quarterfinals.

“We never had any problems or ambiguous moments on the court with him, we were never angry with each other.

We respect each other on and off the court.

It's always not easy to play with a friend.

It's more subconscious, because with your head you always prepare for the game and try to win.

But subconsciously you understand that this is your friend since the age of eight, you have known him for 16 years.

There are such psychological moments, but you are trying to get rid of them, ”Medvedev admitted.

105th US Open win for Williams

Of the rest of the results of the eighth day, it is especially worth highlighting the victory of the former first racket of the world Serena Williams over the Greek Maria Sakkari - 6: 3, 6: 7 (6: 8), 6: 3.

The American won the 105th victory at the US Open and reached the quarterfinals of the tournament for the 17th time.

In the next round, Williams will have to meet with one of the main sensations of the current competition - Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who returned to the court after three years of absence and for the first time passed so far at a major in New York. In her fourth round match, she prevailed over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet with a score of 6: 4, 6: 7 (5: 7), 6: 3.