WHAT HAPPENED: Former No. 1 and US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, the Open’s fifth seed, began his quest to equal his past Slam results and again go deep in the major where he’s had his greatest success, turning back a stiff challenge from the veteran Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Medvedev had come into the Open on the heels of an oddly winless hard-court summer but took a positive first step on Tuesday. The 6-foot-6, rangy groundstroker eventually turned around a tight match and won going away, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Medvedev smacked 14 aces and, crucially, converted on six of 11 break-point opportunities to crack Lajovic’s will. The match featured a smorgasbord of extended, entertaining rallies, but in the end it was Medvedev who had the answers.
The Serb, 34, is a perennially tricky opponent, to whom Medvedev had lost his last two matches heading into this encounter. Lajovic, who owns a muscular backcourt game with excellent variety and a one-handed backhand that’s reminiscent of Stan Wawrinka’s, was able to go toe-to-toe with Medvedev, moving his bigger opponent side-to-side with confident and clean ballstriking.
At 3-3 in the first set, Medvedev dug in and outlasted Lajovic in two extended rallies to snatch the break advantage. Returning from very deep in the court, as is his signature, Medvedev broke serve for a second time to claim the opening set.
In the second set, Lajovic began swinging even more freely and broke Medvedev for the first time. Unsettling Medvedev with heavy backhands down the line and well-timed incursions into the net, Lajovic won 7 of 7 net points to take a 4-2 lead. The Serb won the second set, thoroughly outplaying Medvedev with heavy, flat groundstrokes off both wings and success at the net; he won 10 of 11 forays into the forecourt to even the match at one set all.
After a bathroom break, Medvedev returned to the court with a renewed sense of purpose, smoothly striking winners to break serve at love to open the third. He snatched the first seven points of the set and cruised through to take the third set. A more relaxed Medvedev again broke early in the fourth and strode to a 5-0 lead and comfortable victory.
WHAT IT MEANS: Medvedev, despite being a former champion in Flushing and a six-time Slam finalist, is flying a bit under the radar at this year’s US Open. That’s partly because, for him, Medvedev is having a subpar year. The fifth seed, whose favorite surface is hard courts, went 0-2 in the summer warmup events in Toronto and Cincinnati. It’s the first year since 2020 that Medvedev has made it to summer’s end without a title (though he did reach finals at the Australian Open and Indian Wells, and semifinals at Miami and Wimbledon earlier this year).
Over his career, Medvedev has won 18 of his 20 singles titles on hard courts and, curiously, all 20 of his titles at different events, including six different ATP Masters 1000 titles.
The veteran Lajovic, who came into this match with a 2-1 advantage over Medvedev, has seen his ranking slip to No. 66 from a career high of No. 23 in 2019. Lajovic is a dangerous floater in any draw; he owns three Top-5 wins, including victories over No. 1 and compatriot Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Medvedev and No. 5 Dominic Thiem. However, the Serb has never beaten a Top-10 player in a major.
MATCH POINT: Since 2018, no man on tour has reached more hard-court finals than Daniil Medvedev. While he has reached six major finals, he is just 1-5 in those title matches. And in two of those, Medvedev was up two sets to love.
Lajovic, who has captured two ATP singles titles, is third among active men in consecutive major appearances, with 35 dating to 2016. Ahead of him are only Grigor Dimitrov and Adrian Mannarino.
