Former finalist Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas headline US Open action on Wednesday, which also features fellow Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud. #NextGenATP stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Carlos Alcaraz bid to reach the third round, while 2017 finalist Kevin Anderson challenges Diego Schwartzman.
Second seed Medvedev may once again need to draw upon the energy of the New York crowd, who he credited for his run to the 2019 final, in the second match within Arthur Ashe stadium. Two years ago, Medvedev fought back after an excellent start from Dominik Koepfer to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(2) in the US Open fourth round. Afterwards, at the net, Medvedev praised the German, saying: “If you continue like this, you’re going to be a very good player.”
Koepfer was then No. 118 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and four months ago cracked the Top 50 for the first time, but even with one Top 10 win coming against then World No. 9 Gael Monfils in Rome last year, he will play with a great deal of confidence. This is the fourth straight major championship that the 27-year-old, a two-time All-American at Tulane University, has faced a Top 10 opponent.
Medvedev has won 12 of his past 14 matches during the US summer swing, including a fourth ATP Masters 1000 trophy at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers (d. Opelka) and the 200th match win of his career over Richard Gasquet in the US Open first round. Koepfer fought to improve to 2-0 in fifth sets with a gutsy victory over another Frenchman, qualifier Quentin Halys.
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The last match inside Arthur Ashe stadium on Wednesday pits two players who both came through in five sets on Monday. Tsitsipas, the third-seeded Greek, needed four hours and 49 minutes to overcome 2012 champion Andy Murray, while Adrian Mannarino — in his first match since suffering a knee injury on Centre Court at Wimbledon — edged past fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The pair is tied at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.
Tsitsipas, who came into the US Open on the back of semi-finals appearances in Toronto (l. to Opelka) and at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (l. to Zverev), is bidding to record his 50th match win of the season (50-14) and advance to the third round for the second year in a row. Mannarino has won six of his 10 tour-level matches on hard courts this year and will be attempting to record his first Top 10 win at a major (0-17).
Fifth seed Rublev mastered big-serving ATP Tour veteran Ivo Karlovic in the first round on Monday, following on from his recent run to the Cincinnati final (l. to Zverev). If the Russian is to advance to the third round for the fourth time in five years he’ll need to beat Spain’s Pedro Martinez, who will be attempting to record his first Top 10 win in the first match on Grandstand Wednesday. Two-time US Open quarter-finalist Rublev has recorded 26 of his 42 match wins on hard courts this year.
Just like Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Rublev, eighth-seeded Norwegian Ruud, currently in eighth position in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, is hoping to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held for the first time in Turin from 14-21 November.
Ruud squares off against Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp for the first time on Court 13. Ruud has clinched 28 of his 40 wins on clay in 2021, including three consecutive ATP Tour titles in as many weeks at the Nordea Open in Bastad (d. Coria), the Swiss Open Gstaad (d. Gaston) and at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel (d. Martinez). His confidence continues to grow too on hard courts with back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final runs in Toronto (l. to Tsitsipas) and Cincinnati (l. to Zverev).
Expect a tough battle when 2017 US Open finalist Anderson and Schwartzman, the 11th seed from Argentina, meet during the night session on Louis Armstrong stadium at 7pm. Former World No. 5 Anderson has a 2-1 ATP Head2Head lead over Schwartzman, with their two previous Grand Slam clashes resulting in lengthy exchanges. Anderson won in four sets at the 2015 Australian Open and Schwartzman recovered from two-sets-to-love down to win in five at 2020 Roland Garros.
Two #NextGenATP stars, who are in contention for a spot at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Canadian Auger-Aliassime, the 12th seed, and 19-year-old Alcaraz, also feature on day three. Auger-Aliassime, who lost to eventual champion Dominic Thiem in the US Open fourth round last year, plays Spanish lucky loser Bernabe Zapata Miralles second on Court 5, Alcaraz, who picked up his first ATP Tour title in July at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag (d. Gasquet), will be attempting to reach the third round of a major championship for the second time (2021 Roland Garros) when he faces Arthur Rinderknech of France in the first match on Court 6.
Photo: Manuela Davies/USTA
Frances Tiafoe, Marcos Giron and Brandon Nakashima, three of 13 Americans to advance to the US Open second round — the most since 15 in 1994 — are also in action.
The 23-year-old Tiafoe, who reached the 2020 fourth round (l. to Medvedev), meets Argentina’s Guido Pella for the first time third match on Louis Armstrong Stadium, while John Isner’s conqueror, 20-year-old Nakashima, plays Belgrade Open runner-up Alex Molcan of the Slovak Republic on Court 12. Daniel Evans, the 22nd seed from Great Britain, will hope to replicate the kind of form that helped him beat 28-year-old Giron 6-4, 7-6(4) en route to his first ATP Tour title at the Murray River Open in February.
Doubles action also gets underway on Wednesday with top-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, winners of nine tour-level titles this season, facing Americans Nathanial Lammons and Jackson Withrow. Fourth seeds Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram, and fifth-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah also compete.
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