Step to the trophy: how Medvedev completed the third defeat in a row, and Tsitsipas and Rublev sensationally stumbled

Medvedev's victory in class

The next round of the US Open was not very successful for the Russians.

Andrei Rublev, Kamila Rakhimova and Daria Kasatkina completed their performances at the tournament in singles.

Only Daniil Medvedev managed to please the fans, who did not leave the slightest chance for Pablo Andujru.

It is curious that the second racket of the world has never met an experienced 35-year-old Spaniard before.

However, in this confrontation, the veteran failed to create even the appearance of resistance.

For the entire game, he managed to take only seven games - 0: 6, 4: 6, 3: 6.

It doesn't even make sense to describe the vicissitudes of the struggle in the first set, since the domestic athlete turned out to be an order of magnitude stronger.

He literally hovered over the court and outplayed his counterpart in all aspects.

As a result, in 21 minutes he took only five points and received a well-deserved "steering wheel".

True, in the subsequent games Anduhar managed to pull himself together, and Medvedev no longer had such an easy walk.

But at the right moment, Daniel turned on the revs a little, and this was enough to get the upper hand.

For example, in the second set, he made another break in the fifth game and then calmly brought the matter to victory.

In the final, Pablo took someone else's serve for the first and last time.

However, the favorite here did not allow any semblance of intrigue to arise and finished off the Spaniard.

Thus, the Muscovite continues to march confidently through the tournament.

He not only did not give his opponents a single set, but also spent less than two hours on each of them.

The reported confrontation lasted 1 hour and 56 minutes.

In addition, the domestic tennis player made his way into the second week of the US Open for the third time in a row.

In 2019, he reached the final, and in 2020, he reached the semifinals.

In the next round, Medvedev will face off against 27th rated Briton Daniel Evans, who knocked Alexei Popyrin out of the fight.

And in general, an opponent from the top 10 will not meet a Muscovite at least until the final.

But Andrei Rublev frankly disappointed the fans.

In a duel with Francis Tiafoe, the last of the top 50 of the world rankings, he was considered the clear favorite and, it seemed, should have calmly taken over.

After all, the American won only one ATP tournament in his entire career, and at the US Open only once in his career made his way beyond the second round - last year he reached the 1/8 finals, where he lost in three sets to Medvedev.

However, the American was serious and promised to "make" a venerable opponent.

As a result, the words of the 23-year-old athlete did not disagree with deeds.

Although at first the fifth seeded did not have any problems.

The key to success in the first set was a great serve.

The Russian performed seven aces against four of his opponent and won 90% of the points on the first serve.

And in general, he acted much more aggressively, actively winning 15 goals (9 - against Tiafoe).

As a result, the break was already in the third game and the score was 6: 4.

In the second game, the Muscovite's game suddenly went wrong.

The supply stopped working like clockwork, and every time there was not enough at the reception.

Andrei had three break points, but did not convert a single one.

For example, in the fifth game, with the score 3: 2 in favor of the American, Rublev missed two break points.

In the end, Francis took someone else's serve, who was actively supported by the stands.

In the third set, tennis players continued to collect blots, collecting more than 30 unforced errors for two.

The Russian again experienced serious problems at the reception and managed to realize only one break point out of seven.

In the end, the rivals nevertheless exchanged breaks, and as a result, the fate of the party was decided in a tie-break.

And here the seventh racket of the planet wavered again.

He was constantly in the lead, but at the decisive moment he made a double mistake on the setball.

After that, Rublev, it seemed, wilted completely.

In the fourth set, he lost 2: 4, and Tiafoe had already begun to celebrate the victory and fiercely turned on the audience.

The judge even had to calm down the fans.

But it was too early to rejoice.

Andrei finally pulled himself together and literally swept the American off the court, pulling out four games in a row.

But, unfortunately, the struggle did not work out in the final game.

The domestic tennis player gave all his strength and could not get together for the decisive segment.

Rublev almost got a "steering wheel", but still took one game - 1: 6.

So, for the second time in his career, Tiafoe made his way to the fourth round of the US Open, where he will meet with Felix Auger-Allassim.

And Rublev again demonstrated that he does not look the best in five-set.

Of nine such fights, he turned out to be stronger only in three.

Kasatkina's defeat from an uncomfortable rival

Unfortunately, the domestic tennis players were not happy on the next game day either.

However, Kamilla Rakhimova and Daria Kasatkina got top-10 athletes as rivals and initially had little chance of success.

Kasatkina, who gained excellent shape, had a little more of them, who knocked out Tsvetana Pironkova and Market Vondrousova from the fight and for the first time since 2017 made her way to the third round of the US Open.

She had to fight with the fifth seeded tournament Elina Svitolina.

As a result, the Russian woman managed to impose a fight on the Ukrainian woman only in the first game.

In general, she tried to act on an equal footing with the favorite and even surpassed her in the number of actively won balls - 14:11.

But at the same time, Daria made more unforced mistakes - 14: 9.

For the time being, the rivals took their serve, but at the decisive moment Svitolina started up and made a break in the ninth game, after which she confidently brought the matter to victory.

In the second game, the struggle did not work out.

Elina has become more actively involved in the struggle and has already surpassed the Russian woman in all components.

And two breaks helped her bring the matter to a quiet victory - 6: 2.

Unfortunately, this confrontation once again confirmed that the Ukrainian remains an extremely uncomfortable rival for Kasatkina.

In six meetings with her, Daria suffered six defeats and took only two sets.

The departure of Rakhimova did not come as a surprise either.

The 20-year-old native of Yekaterinburg in the United States performed well on the whole.

To begin with, she made her way to the main draw of the tournament as a “lucky loser”, and then for the first time in her career reached the third round of the US Open, simultaneously knocking out compatriot Ekaterina Aleksandrova from the fight.

A victory over the eighth seeded Barbora Kreichikova would have been a real miracle.

It didn't happen.

Moreover, the match developed according to the same scenario as the confrontation between Kasatkina and Svitolina.

In the first set, the tennis players kept their serve until the Czech made a break in the ninth game - 6: 4.

In the second, Rakhimova gave up her serve twice and also lost 2: 6.

Now, domestic fans in the women's part of the tournament have to worry about Varvara Gracheva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

True, in the third round they will measure their strength with each other.

In men, Aslan Karatsev will test Jenson Brooksby.

Sensational departure of Tsitsipas and Osaka

The next game day of the US Open was remembered not only by the massive departure of the Russians, but also by two loud sensations.

For both men and women, the third rackets of the planet, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Naomi Osaka, unexpectedly finished the fight.

Moreover, the Greek managed to concede in five sets to 18-year-old Carlos Alkaras Garfia.

The defeat of the favorite was perceived by some positively, because in the first matches he was remembered mainly for his “toilet breaks”.

Not without him this time.

After the third game, in which the favorite missed three set points, he left the court for four minutes.

That helped.

In the next set, Tsitsipas beat an uncompromising opponent to zero.

But as a result, the fate of the tense confrontation was decided in a tie-break, in which Alkaras Garfia was again stronger.

Thus, he not only entered the second week of the Grand Slam Tournament for the first time in his career, but also became the youngest tennis player to reach the 1/8 finals of the most prestigious tournaments since 1992.

Then the Ukrainian Andrey Medvedev reached the same stage of Roland Garros.

He also beat a top 10 opponent for the first time in his career.

Following Tsitsipas, Osaka "covered the racket".

The Japanese woman did not cope with another young rival - Leila Fernandez, who will turn 19 on Monday - 5: 7, 7: 6, 6: 4.

And at first everything went for the favorite more than successfully.

She left behind the first set and had every chance to win the second and move on.

With the score 6: 5, she made a number of mistakes and allowed the Canadian to bring the matter to a tie-break, where she was defeated.

Osaka did not hold back her emotions and several times with rage threw the racket on the court, but the judge did not give her a warning, as the item of the inventory remained intact.

In the decisive game, Fernandez already sensed the weakness of her eminent opponent and began to act from a position of strength.

Naomi didn't do much.

As a result - defeat and a sensational departure.

After the end of the meeting, the third racket of the planet could not hold back tears, and also hinted at a desire to take a break in her career.

Osaka admitted that she does not know when she will play the next match.