Few doubted that Daniil Medvedev would confidently overcome the barrier of the second round of the US Open.
During his not the longest career, the Russian only once stumbled on the New York courts in the matches of the first two rounds, and starting from 2019, he has invariably reached at least the semi-finals.
And the opponent did not seem too dangerous.
Although Artur Rinderknesh was ranked 58th in the ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals, in his career he never defeated any current representative of the top 10.
In January, he lost to Yannick Sinner at the ATP Cup, and two months later he was beaten by Hubert Hurkacs at a tournament in Miami.
And although in both meetings the Frenchman managed to bring things to a tie-break once, he failed to catch at least one set.
This time, Rinderknesh was up against the world ranking leader, who lost only twice in the last 21st match at the US Open.
And the difference in class between him and Medvedev was evident from the very first minutes.
Daniil himself did not play perfectly and hit the first ball only in 50% of cases, but at the same time he regularly scored points.
And in this he was assisted by Arthur.
In the starting set, for one actively won ball, he had almost four unforced errors (5-19).
And with such efficiency, it was impossible to count on a victory over the Russian.
However, it was in the first game that Rinderknesh had the opportunity to take Medvedev's serve for the first and last time.
Immediately succeeding at the reception, the Russian stalled a little and gave the opponent three break points at once, but managed to win back each of them.
And for the rest of the match, he never allowed the Frenchman to win more than two draws at the reception per game.
Medvedev himself earned a total of 17 breaks, and sold five, almost evenly spreading them out over three parties.
It was a little more difficult in the second, during which Rinderknesh caught the courage and almost brought the matter to a tie-break.
But at the right moment, Daniel showed his level.
In the 11th game, he added, on the third attempt he made a break, after which he consolidated his success on the pitch.
And in the third, he calmly brought the matter to victory - 6:2, 7:5, 6:3.
On the whole, Medvedev was satisfied with his own performance, especially noting a good start, but at the same time he complained about the late start of the match.
According to him, going to the court at 22:00 is not easy, but certain experience in this helped him not to lower the bar and show his best tennis.
It is noteworthy that the delay was caused by a long duel between Serena Williams and Annette Kontaveit, which dragged on for almost 2.5 hours and ended in a sensational defeat of the second racket of the world from Estonia.
As Daniel admitted, at that moment he was in the room under the stands, but by the reaction of the audience he understood exactly how events were unfolding on the court.
Since then, Medvedev has won 35 wins in his last 40 meetings at the hard majors, and his unbeaten streak at the US Open has reached nine matches.
And although so far everything is going almost perfectly for the current victor of the tournament, he himself speaks of the need to increase momentum.
“The most important thing is to win, stay in the tournament, try to go as far as possible and, of course, improve your level, because the opponents are getting stronger and stronger.
Then, in the end, you will play with a person who has won Grand Slam tournaments or has similar achievements, ”Medvedev said.
True, while Medvedev is not threatened with a meeting with titled opponents.
In the third round, his opponent will be the little-known Chinese Wu Yibin.
The tennis player is ranked 173rd in the ATP rankings, and made it to the main draw of the US Open through qualification.
And although he still lacks regalia, in New York he looks more than good.
In qualifying, he turned out to be stronger than Richardas Berankis and Corentin Mute, and in the first round of the main draw he sensationally smashed the 31st seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili - 6:3, 6:4, 6:0.
Medvedev himself praised the future opponent and admitted that he would have to demonstrate his best qualities.
But it is rather difficult to consider the match with Ibin only as a warm-up before more serious tests.
And this, obviously, can wait for the Russian on Sunday in the person of Nick Kyrgios, whom he lost to at the Masters in Montreal.
In parallel with Medvedev, Karen Khachanov continues to advance in the US Open grid.
As in the first round, he could not win dry, but on the whole he made his way to the next quite confidently.
Thiago Monteiro fought desperately and even won the third set, but he was not enough for more.
But even if the Brazilian turned out to be not the most serious opponent, the Russian himself can hardly be completely satisfied with himself.
43 unforced errors with 44 actively won balls is far from the best indicator.
And it is far from a fact that this will be enough for success in a duel with Briton Jake Draper, who sensationally took over the sixth racket of the world, Felix Auger-Aliassime.
As for the women's tournament, the representation of Russia has noticeably decreased there.
Anna Kalinskaya and Evgenia Rodina sheathed their rackets, losing to Caroline Garcia and Ayla Tomlyanovich, respectively, and only Veronika Kudermetova and Lyudmila Samsonova (as well as Ekaterina Aleksandrova, who only played her debut match at the tournament) could please their native fans.
The first dealt with Marina Zanevskaya, a Ukrainian athlete representing Belgium, and went to the Hungarian Dalma Galfi, and the second sensationally knocked out the current US Open finalist Leyla Fernandez.
The Russian woman surpassed the Canadian in all key aspects, and on her serve she was simply unstoppable - 78% of the rallies won and not a single break point.
And although in the second game Fernandez still endured until the tie-break, she could not prevent Samsonova from reaching the third round of the US Open for the first time in her career - 6:3, 7:6 (7:3).
Experienced Alexandra Krunich is waiting for her there.