The men's tournament at the U.S. Open is looking very competitive, but the predictions for who will win aren't all that surprising.
Daniil Medvedev barely broke a sweat in the first two sets as he cruised to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Nuno Borges at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last six years.
Medvedev will face either top-seeded Jannik Sinner or 14th-seeded Tommy Paul on Wednesday.
All eyes will be on the remaining American men's chances of ending a 21-year Grand Slam drought and becoming the first American to win a U.S. Open title since Andy Roddick.
And indeed, with the early exits of reigning champion Novak Djokivic and 2022 winner Carlos Alcaraz, the path for players like Francis Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz has never been clearer.
But Medvedev's 6-foot-6 height could easily get in the way.
“To be honest, it feels just like any other U.S. Open,” he said. “I'm happy to be here, I'm at my highest level, I'm playing well, my serve is getting better and better every match, my returns are getting better and better. It feels great. I know the further I go, the stronger the opponents will be, the more the crowd will be involved and it'll be more fun.”
Medvedev is not only the only remaining former U.S. Open champion on the men's side, but he was also last year's runner-up to Djokovic.
The 28-year-old has not dropped a set since the first round and looked in top form in Monday's match against Borges, which lasted just under two hours.
Medvedev won 26 of 37 points in just 23 minutes in the first set, sealing the victory with a 109 mph ace, his first of nine in the match.
Borges, who lost to Medvedev in the first round of the Halle Open in June, looked to offer his opponent something different afterwards.
But he failed to execute for most of the time, making 20 unforced errors in the second set and 22 in the third, finishing with a dismal score of 51 overall in the match.
Borges fought the hardest in the third set.
In one of the longest games of the match, Borges survived three break points before play was halted when a fire alarm sounded and the electronic line system went down.
“It certainly helped,” Medvedev said. “I felt like he started to get some momentum on the next two points and this just kind of broke it a little bit. This is something we can't control, so hopefully it doesn't happen again.”
But Borges eventually held on to tie the third set at 2-2.
Despite going toe-to-toe with Medvedev in the first six games, Borges was unable to maintain his offensive momentum despite some much-needed encouragement from the fans in attendance.
When Medvedev won the 2021 US Open, he paid homage to FIFA's “brick fall” celebration by collapsing on the court and lying still with his tongue out.
Asked in a post-match on-court interview with Nick Kyrgios if he had any plans if he went on to win, Medvedev acknowledged he had thought about it.
“I feel like I know what I want to do if I win the next Grand Slam, and hopefully I can win it,” Medvedev said. “I was close a few times and I never got to celebrate. It's better to celebrate after winning the match. You can always have a press conference. Hopefully I can win more matches. If I win matches, I'll have a chance to give more speeches and do some crazy things.”
