Medvedev Marches On At US Open

Second seed Daniil Medvedev’s strong hard-court form continued on Wednesday as he overcame Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round at the US Open for a fourth straight year.

The Russian, who recorded the 200th match win of his career in his first-round victory over Richard Gasquet, captured his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto and advanced to the semi-finals in Cincinnati in August.

The 25-year-old produced another dominant performance against Koepfer, hitting with great consistency and depth as he fired 23 winners to advance in one hour and 48 minutes. Medvedev now leads the 27-year-old 2-0 in their ATPHead2Head Series and holds a 13-2 record since Wimbledon.

Medvedev is aiming to lift his first major title at the US Open, having reached his maiden final at this level in New York in 2019, in which he rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set against Rafael Nadal.

The 12-time tour-level champion, who also advanced to the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows last year, will next face another German in Philipp Kohlschreiber or World No. 74 Pablo Andujar. Medvedev has won trophies on hard in Marseille and on grass in Mallorca his year, while he also helped guide Russia to the ATP Cup title in February.

Medvedev made a fast start against Koepfer as he broke in the first game to take control. The Russian soaked up pressure from behind the baseline in the first set as the 27-year-old struggled to hit through Medvedev. While the World No. 2 was pegged back to 3-3, he quickly regained his advantage and sealed the set on serve to move ahead.

Medvedev then committed just 10 unforced errors in the second and third sets, breaking at the start of both as he chased down every ball to frustrate Koepfer. The 25-year-old sealed his win when Koepfer pushed a backhand wide.

Kopefer was trying to reach the third round at a major for the third time this season, having enjoyed runs to that stage at Roland Garros in June and Wimbledon in July. The German also fell to Medvedev at the US Open in 2019 in the fourth round.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2Y7qIOT