WHAT HAPPENED: No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev posted an impressive performance against Australia's Christopher O'Connell at the 2020 US Open on Thursday, dismissing the world No. 116, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and booking a ticket to the third round.
The Russian never wavered in their two-hour contest, proving that he's on a mission to repeat last year's run to the final, where he finished as runner-up behind Rafael Nadal in five grueling sets.
"I feel that I'm moving well and I am trying to work on it still, everyday I try to practice my movement and tennis shots, but I'm happy with my tennis," he said.
Credit to O'Connell, who showed no sign of nerves or tightness in his first ever Grand Slam, keeping the pressure on the World No. 5 through long baseline rallies. But it was Medvedev's consistency that proved to be the difference. He claimed the lone break of the first set to tuck away the first set in 35 minutes.
As the second set got underway, Medvedev continued to chip away at O'Connell's game, moving well through the court, getting every shot back, and waiting for the Aussie to make the mistakes. Medvedev's airtight game gave him the break early at 2-1, a lead he extended by reeling off four of the next five games to take a two-set lead.
O'Connell, who received two visits from a trainer for an abdominal issue, quickly began to unravel in the third set. Playing in only his third career ATP-level match, the Aussie just couldn't find a hole in Medvedev's game, as the Russian took the victory on his second match point.
WHAT IT MEANS: The 2019 US Open runner-up has posted quarterfinal results in Marseille and at the Western & Southern Open this year, as well as a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open. And based on his second-round performance Thursday evening, there's no slowing him down.
No doubt the sting of the memory from last year's US Open final still lingers, and the desire for redemption is there. His next test will be another player quickly climbing the ranks and making the most of his Grand Slam debut, 21-year-old American J.J. Wolf.
MATCH POINT: All seven of Medvedev's career singles titles are on hard courts, a surface well-suited for the Russian's fast-paced baseline game. With reports of the 2020 US Open courts playing faster than in years past, can the conditions favor the Russian for his maiden Slam?
