New YorkRussian tennis player Daniil Medvedev, former world number one, defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli on Saturday night and advanced to the round of 16 of the US Open, a possible prelude to an expected clash with favorite Jannik Sinner.
Medvedev and Sinner, winners of the 2021 US Open and the last Australian Open respectively, are the only Grand Slam champions still in contention in New York following the shocking eliminations of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Medvedev, currently number five in the ATP rankings, won an entertaining third round tie against Cobolli (31st) by 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3 on the central court of Flushing Meadows (New York).
The Moscow tennis player will face Portuguese Nuno Borges (34th in the ATP) in the round of 16 and, if he wins, he could face a high-voltage clash with Sinner.
“You have to be very cautious, but if I play well I can win this, and if not, I can lose to anyone,” Medvedev said of the surprises of the first week at Flushing Meadows.
Medvedev was broken at the start of the first and third sets by Cobolli, one of the new promises of rising Italian tennis.
But, apart from those passages, the Russian dominated the match with his fearsome serve as his main weapon, adding a total of nine aces to his rival’s two.
Cobolli, who has made great progress this season, put on a good show on Centre Court in a third set in which both players engaged in vibrant exchanges with which they tried to win over the crowd.
“It was a very fun match to play,” said Medvedev, who finished runner-up in last year’s tournament.
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– 2024-09-08 04:51:04
