NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 7, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)
Friends and foes, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev met for the eighth time — all on hard courts — at the US Open Wednesday afternoon.
When the two Russians tussle, it’s typically been Medvedev who comes out on top, as his 6-2 head-to-head record against the godfather of his baby daughter reflects. He won their last meeting in the final at Dubai last February, which was the second of his four hard-court titles this season.
Making his fourth US Open quarterfinal appearance in the past five years — and 3-0 at this stage in Flushing Meadows and 6-1 in all major quarterfinals at the start of the afternoon — Medvedev endured 34-degree Celsius temperatures (93 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity above 50 percent that blanketed Arthur Ashe Stadium on the hottest day of the New York fortnight, and overcame early breaks of his serve in each set.
Despite needing two medical time outs due to the high temperatures, the 2021 US Open champion — pushed to the limit — beat the eighth-seeded Rublev, 6-4 6-3, 6-4, closing out the win on his fifth match point after two hours and 48 minutes to advance to Friday’s semifinal round. It was his 37th hard-court victory of 2023.
https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1699524934639272136
Next, the 27-year-old Medvedev will face this year’s top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain for a berth in his fifth major final. The defending champion defeated No. 12 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, a 2020 US Open finalist, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, in an efficient two hours and 30 minutes.
Medvedev is nothing if not honest in his post-match interviews and he gave his assessment of the playing conditions he overcame to ESPN’s Darren Cahill. “It was brutal,” he admitted, while nursing an ice towel draped around his neck. “The only good thing I see in these conditions is that both suffer. It was tough for both of us. There were some ups and downs but that is so normal. At the end of the first set, I sort of could not see the ball anymore. I played with sensations.”
Despite committing 40 unforced errors, Medvedev hit 26 winners and broke Rublev’s serve nine times. Rublev countered with 32 winners of his own but also made 37 unforced errors. The two combined to smack 14 double faults.
How's Daniil Medvedev feeling about his game right now? pic.twitter.com/AVw0tHfYF1
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023
“I tried to go for it, tried to run and he did the same,” Medvedev added. “Before points I was like, ‘Wow, he can’t run anymore’, so I tried to go and make him run and run and run, but he was there all the time. But we were tired all the time. Brutal conditions and super tough to win.”
Rublev reflected upon the difference between winning and losing against Medvedev. “Today I feel I had a lot of chances,” he said. “It’s just he was better in those moments or he served better or he played better and me, I was opposite.”
New No. 1 Sabalenka reaches fifth straight major semifinal
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who becomes the new No. 1 next Monday, has blazed a trail into the US Open semifinal round following her 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 23 seed Zheng Qinwen of China on Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
The highest women’s seed remaining following the fourth-round upset of top seed Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka struck 17 winners to 12 unforced errors and converted three of seven break-point opportunities against Zheng. By the end of the 73-minute quarterfinal skirmish, Sabalenka was ahead on points 56-35.
The 25-year-old Belarusian, who earlier this year won her first major at the Australian Open, was pleased by her performance. Her win over Zheng lifted her into a fifth straight major semifinal — fourth this year — and she’s become the second woman following Chris Evert to win her first seven career major quarterfinal matches.
Aryna Sabalenka is all smiles and semifinals bound. ☺️ pic.twitter.com/VNenlyKboD
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023
“I think I definitely played great tennis today,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I’m super happy with the win against [Zheng]. She played unbelievable tennis this US Open.
“Super happy to give myself another opportunity to do better in the semis.
“I’m trying to focus on my game. I’ll focus on being No. 1 after the US Open.”
3rd straight US Open semifinal for Aryna Sabalenka! 👏 pic.twitter.com/tCIXy4hYuw
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023
Next, Sabalenka will face unbreakable No. 17 seed Madison Keys of the United States, the 2017 US Open runner-up, who beat No. 9 seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, the reigning Wimbledon champion, 6-1, 6-4, in 86 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday evening after jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set. It was her second straight victory over a Top 10 opponent after taking down No. 3 Jessica Pegula in Monday’s fourth round. Keys converted each of her three break-point opportunities and saved all nine break points she faced from Vondrousova to reach her third US Open semifinal.
”I love playing here. In front of a home crowd, you feel like you can get out of any situation,” Keys said in her on-court interview. “Whenever I walk on court here, I feel like I’m at home.”
It's all semifinal smiles from Madison Keys! pic.twitter.com/QL6bJbdP8l
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2023
A groundbreaking night and win for Shelton
The all-American men’s quarterfinal between No. 10 seed Frances Tiafoe and No. 47 Ben Shelton on Arthur Ashe Stadium in prime time Tuesday had plenty going for it: A sellout crowd of more than 24,000 raucous fans on a steamy summer New York evening, two of three American men who made it to the US Open quarterfinals — most since 2005 — and, most importantly, it was the first major quarterfinal of the Open Era dating back to 1968 that featured two Black American men.
As Washington Post tennis writer Ava Wallace described the moment when Tiafoe and Shelton walked out on the court to the sounds of “We Dem Boyz” by rapper Wiz Khalifa, “their meeting felt like the culmination of a development that has been difficult to ignore at the US Open this year: Tennis is cooler than ever.”
A historic night for 🇺🇸 tennis. pic.twitter.com/eydIb5Ru4b
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023
With his historic 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 quarterfinal victory over the 10th-seeded Tiafoe Tuesday night, Shelton is the youngest American man to reach the US Open semifinals in 30 years. Consider this: A year ago, Shelton, then ranked No. 165, lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows. Now, the 20-year-old Florida resident has cracked the Top 20 (at No. 19 in the ATP Live Rankings) with his win over Tiafoe and moved to within one win of reaching his first Grand Slam final in just his fifth major appearance.
The underdog Shelton, a lefty with a big, booming first serve, amassed 14 aces and 11 double faults. But his big hitting accounted for 50 winners and he tipped the 25-year-old Tiafoe, who made a semifinal run at Flushing Meadows last year, into committing 33 unforced errors. Shelton converted seven of 15 break points and outpointed Tiafoe 123-107 by the conclusion of the three hour, seven-minute battle.
The semifinals are calling, Ben Shelton! pic.twitter.com/1jI9JimZcU
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023
“I think tonight was a real physical battle. That was the true test,” Shelton told reporters afterward. “You know, you have Frances Tiafoe on the other side of the court and you have the weather that you had in there. You know, it was pretty muggy, pretty hot. Seventy-five percent of the match I think both of us were finishing points fairly tired, trying to catch our breath. …
“Just being tough and being relentless, and knowing that I could go the distance physically no matter how bad it hurt. That was just kind of what I was sticking with.”
Tiafoe said in his new conference that he thought Shelton was “able to hit through the ball a bit more than I was. Yeah, he just played better than me. I gave him a lot of chances to stay in the match, and he took advantage of it. Hats off to him.”
That Ben Shelton celly tho 😅 pic.twitter.com/3muvcjeUOC
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023
Next up for Shelton is a semifinal round meeting with No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic on Friday, something the former NCAA champion is looking forward to.
“I’m pretty pumped about the opportunity to go back out there and have the same feeling that I had today,” Shelton said. “I have been enjoying every minute on court, interactions with the crowds and just the tennis that’s being played. So, I hope that I can bring a high level again on Friday.”
Around the US Open
On Wednesday in Louis Armstrong Stadium, No. 8 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Wang Xinyu of China won their 10th straight match at a major after defeating American No. 3 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4 to advance to the women’s doubles semifinals. Next, Hsieh and Wang will play 16th seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, who upset No. 6 seeds Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Taylor Townsend of the United States, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8), on Tuesday.
The second semifinal will pair 2020 champions Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia, seeded 12th, against unseeded Jennifer Brady of the United States and Luisa Stefani of Brazil. Wednesday afternoon, Siegemund and Zvonareva beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. On Tuesday, Brady and Stefani defeated Magda Linette of Poland and Bernarda Pera of the United States, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3.
By the numbers
• Aryna Sabalenka is the first woman to reach the quarterfinals at all four majors in a year since Serena Williams in 2016. Her victory over Zheng Qinwen was her 20th career win at the US Open in 25 matches.
• With his quarterfinal win over Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic has won 30 straight matches against Americans since his last loss, which came against Sam Querrey in the third round of Wimbledon in 2016.
• The wait for Andrey Rublev‘s first major semifinal continues. The 14-time ATP Tour-level champion now has lost in a Grand Slam quarterfinal nine times after being defeated by Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday. Four of the nine major setbacks have been at the US Open (in 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2023.
“Quotable …”
“I’m trying to enjoy the moments on the court, but there is so much stress and pressure going on that it’s hard to have fun, so to say, on the court. It’s really about finding a way to navigate through the match and win a tennis match for me.
“But off the court, in terms of the actual journey of still being a professional tennis player and going around the world, traveling with my coaching team, we try to keep things light off the court and have fun and enjoy life, because in the end of the day, you have to find that optimal balance. For each one of us it’s different. Obviously, it’s quite individual.”
— No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, on his mission and ultimate goal of winning his 24th major title.
