WHAT HAPPENED: The wins are sure adding up in a hurry these days for Daniil Medvedev. On an Opening Night that stretched into the early-morning hours of Tuesday at the US Open, the second seed won the 200th match of his career, claiming a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 decision over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Medvedev, who earlier this year hit another milestone when he became the first world No. 2 not named Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray in more than a decade-and-a-half, looked at home on the Arthur Ashe Stadium cement. And why not? This is, after all, where the Russian first introduced himself to the sporting world at large. Happily playing the role of villain at the 2019 US Open, he pushed through to his first major final, ultimately forcing Rafael Nadal into a five-set battle for the ages.
“I definitely have a lot of memories—from the tough ones to the good ones,” reflected Medvedev on 2019. “Hopefully, it’s going to be only the good ones this year. I’m just going to try to win as many matches as I can.”
On Monday, the 25-year-old was more than willing to extend the baseline rallies into the humid New York night. In the end, that would cost Gasquet, 10 years Medvedev’s senior, his legs. The veteran performer, a semifinalist here in 2013, simply couldn’t keep pace from the back of the court and finished with 38 unforced errors.
A perfectly placed lob gave Medvedev the first set, his scoop forehand finding the baseline in the 10th game of the opener. Gasquet had game points on his racquet at 2-3, 40-15 in the second set, but couldn’t close. Medvedev broke for 4-2 and soon held a commanding two-sets-to-love lead.
Gasquet was unable to summon his best tennis in the final set, often wincing toward his coach, Julien Cassaigne. Medvedev closed out the contest with his fifth service break at 1:01 a.m. local time, though many fans, enjoying the return to live, in-person tennis, stuck around to see it all.
“It was very humid today. Quite hot,” said Medvedev, who totaled 37 winners to 15 unforced errors. “The score might seem easy, but we played for two hours. The first two sets were high-intensity. I was actually not that good physically also in the third, but it’s better when you’re two sets up than two sets down when you struggle.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Dominik Koepfer hopes to have some energy left when he faces Medvedev in the second round. The 57th-ranked German needed five sets (6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4) and just over three-and-a-half hours to overcome French qualifier Quentin Halys on Monday. The two players last met in the Round of 16 at this same event in 2019, with Medvedev prevailing, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6, en route to his first major final.
MATCH POINT: Medvedev leads the ATP Tour since 2018 in hard-court titles (11), hard-court finals (16) and hard-court wins (160).
