Assured, thanks to the elimination in the second round of Rafael Nadal the day before, of remaining in first place in the ATP ranking before the US Open (August 29-September 11), where he will defend his title, Medvedev won 7 -5, 7-5 in 1h47.

"I'm happy with my level of play, this match could have gone the other way. It was a fight today," commented the Russian, winner in Ohio in 2019.

He indeed needed to break twice to pocket the first set, eventually pushing his opponent to fault.

Shapovalov had however managed to regain the service to equalize at 4-4, then showing a good resistance.

The second set was even closer, with Medvedev missing four break points at 4-4.

Party postponed, the Russian, as in the previous set, made the difference on the next engagement of his rival, still too much at fault (29 direct), to open the way to a third victory in five confrontations against the Canadian .

Quiet Tsitsipas

"My objective was to stay present on all possible points and to try to put pressure on him if I had the possibility", summed up Medvedev, who knows he must be wary of his next opponent, Taylor Fritz (13th) , winner 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 7-5 of Andrey Rublev, finalist of the event last year.

It was at the end of an excellent third set that the 24-year-old American ended up having the last word on the Russian, whom he had beaten in March, in the semi-finals of Indian Wells, Masters 1000 which he then removed.

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Against Rublev, Fritz relied in particular on an effective first ball and his formidable backhand, as effective for attacking down the line as for defending, like this superb cross lob which put him in a breaker position at 5-5 in the final end.

Carlos Alcaraz (4th) qualified him without problem by beating 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 the Croatian Marin Cilic (17th).

The Spaniard will be opposed to Briton Cameron Norrie (9th).

Another qualifier, Stefanos Tsitsipas (7th), who quietly dismissed 6-3, 6-3 the Argentinian Diego Schwartzmann, weighed down by an avalanche of unforced errors (34 including 9 double faults).

In the next round, the Greek will face veteran American John Isner (50th), who at 37 will be the oldest quarter-finalist in the tournament since 1968, the start of the Open era, ahead of Roger Federer who had a few fewer days in 2018.

Swiatek, Kontaveit and Jabeur out

Among the women, Iga Swiatek confirmed her big summer difficulties, being dominated 6-3, 6-4 by Madison Keys, winner of the event in 2019.

Eleven days before the US Open, the 21-year-old Polish, so irresistible and dominant in the spring - evidenced by her 37 victories in a row which allowed her to win in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and at Roland-Garros - is only a shadow of itself.

Already eliminated at the same stage by the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia in Toronto, she only deceived her back to the wall in the second set.

Led 5-0, she saved a match point on her serve, avoiding eating a humiliating "donut".

A start followed by two breaks to be trailed only 5-4, before finally cracking again on her serve, after a fourth match point, finally concluded by Keys, happy to have been able to overcome her nervousness.

"She had corrected me severely last time, so I'm happy to have won this match", commented Keys, semi-finalist at the Australian Open, who will face Kazakh Elena Rybakina (25th), winner of the last Wimbledon.

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Her compatriot Jessica Pegula (8th) took the best 7-5, 6-3 over Briton Emma Raducanu (13th), who created a sensation by winning the US Open last year.

The American will challenge the French Caroline Garcia (35th).

© 2022 AFP