The US Open tennis match between Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev can rightfully be called a unique event.

At least for the reason that so far the Russians have never met each other in the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournaments.

At the same time, the last time two domestic athletes reached this stage of the competition was back in 2007.

And if Nikolai Davydenko managed to beat Guillermo Cañas and reach the semifinals, then Igor Andreev lost to Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev approached this confrontation in the status of a clear favorite.

His experience of performing both at major championships in general and at the US Open in particular spoke for him.

A year ago, Daniel looked great in New York and was one step away from the trophy, but in the final he could not cope with Rafael Nadal.

In addition, during his career, he not only never lost to Rublev, but also did not give him a single set.

He first appeared stronger in Budapest in 2016, and then in Cincinnati and St. Petersburg three years later.

Moreover, in the last two tournaments, they also met at the stage of the quarter finals.

Even though Rublev could not boast of performing in the final of the Major, he also cannot be called a debutant of the decisive rounds.

In 2017, he had already reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, defeating such formidable opponents as Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin along the way.

If the Russian were at the bottom of the grid, he could have gone further, but he was unlucky enough to meet with the same Nadal.

As befits compatriots, on the eve of the match, tennis players spoke of each other exclusively with respect.

So, Medvedev, in a complimentary manner, spoke about Rublev's attacking style of play and called him one of the best players on the planet, and Andrei, in turn, admired the fighting character of his counterpart.

The beginning of the confrontation turned out to be equal.

The athletes slowly rolled into the game and preferred not to take risks, concentrating on their own serve.

Until the 11th game, none of them managed to win even three draws at the reception, which only emphasized the tense nature of the match.

At the same time, at first Rublev showed a not too high percentage of hits with the first ball (39%), but was extremely effective on the second, taking 16 out of 25 points in total.

Also, the first set was remembered for the sudden power outage at the Arthur Ashe stadium.

With the score 6: 5 in favor of Rublev, the lights went out in the arena, and therefore the tennis players were forced to suspend the game.

Ten minutes later, the electricity supply was restored and the meeting continued.

In the course of the tie-break, the feeling began to develop that Medvedev had not had time to fully engage in the struggle.

He immediately gave up one of the two rallies on his serve and after a couple of minutes he was losing with a score of 2: 5.

But it was at this moment that Andrei could not cope with his nerves.

At first he made a double mistake, and then missed three set-balls, lost five points in a row, and with them the game.

At the same time, he threw out his anger on mentor Fernando Vicente, who during one of the episodes mistakenly advised him to take the "challenge".

In the second set, Rublev managed not only to pull himself together, but also established the first serve.

The first ball hit percentage jumped to 68%, which should have allowed him to act in a more attacking manner, but in fact, he practically stopped taking risks.

Yes, in comparison with the first game, he managed to reduce the number of unforced errors by three times (9 - 3), but the number of actively won goals decreased by 70% (10 - 3).

Medvedev, on the other hand, felt himself the master of the situation and practically stopped making mistakes.

On the first serve, he took all 14 rallies, and on the second he lost only three of nine.

As for the reception, Daniil did not force the game for a long time, but in the sixth game he turned on full speed and made a break.

True, it was not without the help of Rublev, who twice failed to serve the first ball.

The finalist of last year's US Open took the lead with a score of 4: 2 and did not allow the opponent to create problems for himself during the set.

The third batch was in many ways similar to the first.

The tennis players took their serve and tried to put a little pressure on someone else's, but they never managed to bring the matter to the score 40:40.

Both fell below 60% first serve percentage, but otherwise everything remained in place.

Unlike Rublev, Medvedev was not afraid to take risks and tried to replenish the number of actively won draws.

As a result, there were 20 of them, but the number of unforced errors was quite large - 17. For Andrey, these indicators were 9 and 5, respectively.

With the score 4: 5 in favor of the enemy, Medvedev made his fans a little worried.

The tennis player said he had shoulder problems and took a medical time out.

The pause lasted about four minutes, after which Daniel continued to play as if nothing had happened.

The fate of the confrontation was decided in a tie-break, the beginning of which turned out to be rather nervous.

Medvedev made a mini-break on the move, but immediately returned the favor, making a second double mistake in the match.

Tennis players were noticeably nervous and over and over again doubted the decisions of the referees, as a result of which they took "challenges" in the course of three of the first four draws.

Up to the score 5: 5, the advantage passed from one athlete to another, but at the decisive moment Daniel's experience and skill came to the fore.

The most powerful serve with the first ball helped him earn a match-ball, and a gorgeous reverse cross put an end to the match.

Medvedev beat Rublev for the fourth time in his career and again reached the semifinals of the US Open.

“It was tough in the end.

Perhaps for the first time in a year I celebrated a victory, because in the end it was very difficult.

I felt that I could get into trouble, so I was very happy to win the tie-break.

One point decided the outcome of two sets, so it was a really tough match ... Andrey played incredibly.

He played very well, so I am very pleased with my victory, "Medvedev admitted.