Third seed Daniil Medvedev continues to steamroll through the draw at the US Open, his latest victim being unseeded Frances Tiafoe as the Russian dispatched the American 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 to open the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Medvedev has won 10 of his last 11 matches in Flushing Meadows and has not dropped a set on his way to the quarterfinals where he will meet his close friend and countryman Andrey Rublev as the 10th seed upset sixth seed Matteo Berrettini in four sets.
Medvedev rolls on in spectacular fashion
Tiafoe knew it would be an uphill climb from the start as he was taken to deuce in his opening service game, but managed to pull through to hold. He wouldn't be as fortunate next time around as a forehand over the baseline set up break point and a backhand error gave Medvedev a 2-1 lead.
With the third seed having only dropped serve twice, the set felt as though it was over and a forehand winner down the line by Medvedev gave him a 5-2, double break lead. Surprisingly, Tiafoe managed to get one of the breaks back, but given a second chance to close out the set, the Russian made no mistake, as the American blazed a backhand into the net on set point.
A rash of unforced errors put Tiafoe in a quick double break hole to begin the second set with Medvedev assuming a 3-0 lead. A love hold extended the lead to 4-0 before the world number 82 finally got on the board. Two games later, as Tiafoe served to stay in the set, he faced a set point and a mishit forehand put the second seed into a comfortable two-set lead.
The third set was a mere formality and a forehand dumped into the net by Tiafoe gave Medvedev a 2-0 lead. The Russian was ruthless as he grabbed a second break to love to take a 4-0 lead and after a rare struggle to hold on serve, he was a game away from victory.
A backhand winner brought up triple match point and a missed volley by Tiafoe sealed a thorough victory for Medvedev, still having not dropped more than four games in any set and cementing his status as favorite to win the tournament.