Medvedev Marches Into Third Round; Murray, Kyrgios, Gauff Move On

NEW YORK, Sep 1: Defending champion Daniil Medvedev has reached the third round of the ongoing US Open 2022 after beating France's Arthur Rinderknech in the second round in straight sets by 6-2, 7-5, 6-3, here on Thursday (IST).

With this win, the World No. 1 has now reached the third round at Flushing Meadows for the fifth consecutive year. He has now won 20 of his past 22 matches at the year's final major.

"In general, I'm happy with my level in the third set, so that's great. At the end of the match it was getting better and better," Medvedev said.

"At the same time, a win is the most important, three sets. Try to get out as early as possible even if it is pretty late. Looking forward to next round," he added.

Medvedev will next play China's Wu Yibing, with the prospect of a fourth-round blockbuster against Australian Nick Kyrgios if they both win their next match.

Medvedev's next opponent, Wu, defeated Portugal's Nuno Borges 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 after three hours and 46 minutes.

The 22-year-old became the first male singles player from China to reach the third round of the US Open in tournament history (since 1881) and the first male singles player from China to advance to the third round at a major since Kho Sin-Khie at Wimbledon in 1946.

World No. 48 Bianca Andreescu advanced to the third round after defeating No 15 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-4.

The 22-year-old Canadian put in a vintage performance to set up an exciting third-round clash with France's Caroline Garcia. Coming off an up-and-down three-set win over Harmony Tan in the first round, Andreescu played a physical and disciplined match to defeat the surging Brazilian.

Having beaten the player with the second-most wins since the start of July, Andreescu will now face the winningest: Cincinnati champion Garcia. Ranked No. 18, Garcia extended her winning streak to 10 matches with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Anna Kalinskaya. Into the third round at the US Open for the fifth time in her career, Garcia is bidding to make the Round of 16 for the first time in New York.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios powered past Benjamin Bonzi to reach the third round with a hard fought 7-6(3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over the Frenchman.

The big-serving 23rd seed struck 30 aces and broke Bonzi for a fourth time on match point to end the punishing match under the lights at Louis Amrstrong Stadium.

Former world number one Andy Murray survived an early scare to beat American wildcard Emilio Nava 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 to move into the third round for only the second time in five years.

Murray's victory also marked the first time since 2016 that he had reached the third round at Flushing Meadows, where he won his maiden Grand Slam title a decade ago.

Greek third seed Maria Sakkari became the biggest casualty in the women's draw when she fell to a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 defeat to unseeded Chinese Wang Xiyu in an adsorbing second-round contest.

Coco Gauff beat Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach the third round and claim her second consecutive win on the world's largest stage for tennis, the 23,771-capacity crown jewel of Flushing Meadows.

Next up for the 12th seeded Gauff is a meeting with hard-hitting fellow-American Madison Keys, who won a tense third set tie-breaker to see off Italy's Camila Giorgi 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6).

Britain's Jack Draper, ranked 53rd in the world, earned an impressive upset victory over Canadian sixth seed and last year's semi-finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

The 20-year-old Draper will take on Russian Karen Khachanov, who beat Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Agencies

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