On Monday, September 2, the men’s singles fourth round matches at the US Open in New York ended. Russian number one Daniil Medvedev also competed for a ticket to the quarter-finals of the American major. His opponent was Portuguese Nuno Borges, who is ranked 34th in the ATP rankings.
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Recall that before the start of the last Slam of the season, Daniil scared the fans with his form: on the eve of the tournament he lost three matches in a row, two of which were in the first round of the Masters, but he recovered for the main competition and so far he is advancing without obstacles. The 28-year-old Muscovite successively defeated Dusan Lajovic (Serbia), Fabian Marozan (Hungary) and Flavio Cobolli (Italy). It is noteworthy that only in the confrontation with the Serbian did the national athlete leave the game. But Borges, on the way to the confrontation with the fifth number in the ATP ranking, faced Argentine Federico Coria, Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis and Czech Jakub Mensik.
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Thus, Medvedev entered the second week of the New York Major for the sixth year in a row. The US Open is the most successful Grand Slam tournament for our compatriot. In 2019 and 2023, the Russian reached the final of the tournament, and in 2021 he became the unconditional TBS champion. In 2020, the fifth racket of the world reached the semi-finals, but in 2022 he lost in the fourth round.
Daniil commented on his advancement to the round of 16 of the 2024 US Open.
“The match was difficult, with ups and downs. And at some point I started to play much better with my serve and not with his. It was very, very hot and humid. I think it slows down the game because I watched other matches before mine and it was interesting. For such a late match there were quite a few fans left in the stands. And I enjoyed it,” Medvedev was quoted by the US Open 2024 press service as saying.
Daniil Medvedev
Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
National experts could not stop talking about the high level of play shown this season at the triumphant US Open 2021 in New York. Thus, the winner of the Australian Open in 1994 and Roland Garros in 1993 in mixed doubles, Andrei Olkhovsky, had the following to say.
“As I said before, Daniil needed several matches to feel confident in his game and he did it. In my opinion, the first two rounds gave me the confidence that Daniil needed. Now he is playing at the level he should show,” Olkhovsky said in an interview with the Championship.
The expert also noted that Medvedev has a good chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 US Open.
“Daniel is the favourite in the match against Borzes and should overcome him. Borzes had a long five-set match with a triple match point won, and a lot of effort was put into it. Danya is of a higher class and fresher,” Olkhovsky said in an interview with “Championship.”
The score in personal matches is 2:0 in favour of Medvedev. Daniil has won both times this year, also in the round of 16 of the Australian Open (6:3, 7:6 (7:4), 5:7, 6:1) and then in the first round of the 500m in Halle (7:6 (7:4), 6:4).
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In the first game of the new head-to-head confrontation, the Russians left no chance for the enemy. The fifth racket of the world was difficult for the Portuguese – 6:0. Note that the set lasted only 23 minutes. In this set, Nuno had only one break point, but Daniil managed to win it back. It is worth noting that the last time our tennis player won a Grand Slam match 6:3 was at the Australian Open in 2024. This happened in the first round match with Emil Ruusuvuori – 3:6, 6:7 (1 :7), 6:4, 7:6 (7:1), 6:0.
To the delight of the audience, at the beginning of the second set Borjes took his serve for the first time in the entire match for 0:1. And then the winner of the US Open 2021 clearly served himself: 1-1. In the third game, Nuno managed to fend off a break point, but the Muscovite’s next attempt ended in a double fault by the Portuguese representative – 2-1 in favor of Medvedev. In the fifth game, Daniil put pressure on his opponent and achieved the second break in a row for 4:1. But the sixth game of our compatriot’s serve dragged on. The Russian was saved from a double break point, was tied 5 times, and yet the fifth racket of the world survived and increased his advantage – 5:1. This game lasted almost 10 minutes. Then Medvedev successfully took the match – 6-1 in 35 minutes.
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At the beginning of the third set, Daniil served to zero – 1:0. But the second game of the match turned out to be very long. He was “exact” 6 times, the fifth number in the ATP ranking did not use two break points and the Portuguese still held his serve, which delighted the audience by 1:1. Medvedev tried to create on the court. In one of the episodes, the Russian achieved a great backhand (a backhand shot into the net).
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Daniil Medvedev
Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
In the third game, Borges managed to break for the first time in this match and took a 2-1 lead, which caused the audience to rejoice. In the fourth game, after 3 break points from Daniil and after 5 “exactly”, the game was interrupted. As it turned out, the meetings were suspended on all courts. According to the organizers, a fire alarm went off in the building where the specialists and the Hawk-eye team are located. The pause lasted 5 minutes. Matches have resumed in all courts.
Daniil Medvedev
Photo: Frame from the broadcast.
After the break, the Russian athlete clearly got involved in the game, won two goals on another’s serve and achieved a counterattack for 2-2. Then the athletes tightened their serves, the Russian led with a score of 4-3. And in the eighth game, Borzes made a double fault, after which Medvedev achieved a break for 5:3. Daniil kept a clean sheet and confidently won the match against Nunu 6:0, 6:1, 6:3 in 1 hour 48 minutes. Now, in the quarterfinals, the Russian will wait for the winner of the pair Jannik Sinner – Tommy Paul. Our compatriot has already reached the fifth quarterfinal in New York and scored his 372nd victory on the tour.
The US Open ends on September 8. Follow all the events of the Grand Slam tournament in New York on the “Championship”.
