Defending champion Daniil Medvedev has set up a mouthwatering US Open meeting with in-form Australian Nick Kyrgios after the pair won their respective third-round matches.
World number one Medvedev made routine work of Chinese challenger Wu Yibing, winning 6-4 6-2 6-2 in just under two hours in an encounter at Arthur Ashe Stadium which finished in the early hours of Saturday morning in New York.
Wu, 22, had been making history as the first men’s player from his homeland to reach the third round of the US Open, but had no answer to reigning champion Medvedev, who fired down 12 aces and converted six of the 12 break points he earned.
Medvedev, 26, has now won 21 of his last 23 matches at Flushing Meadows, having made the final in 2019 before claiming the title in 2021, and is into the second week of the tournament for the fourth successive year.
The Russian is also bidding to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2008 to successfully defend his US Open title.
Next up for Medvedev is Kyrgios, who boasts a 3-1 head-to-head advantage in their previous meetings.
Kyrgios recently defeated the world number one at the Canadian Open in August, although Medvedev did get the better of his rival at the Australian Open at the start of the year.
Kyrgios, 27, is widely seen as being in the best form of his career, having made a maiden Grand Slam final appearance at Wimbledon in July, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
Seeded 23rd in New York, Kyrgios booked his place in the fourth round with a straight-sets win over America’s JJ Wolf at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The fiery Australian has dropped just one set in New York so far this year, while Medvedev is yet to lose any.
“We’ve played great matches. I think all have been quite tight on the scoreboard,” said Medvedev, who knows that defeat would mean he loses his world number one ranking to Rafael Nadal after the tournament.
“It’s 3-1 to him but I will try to do better this time and it will be a great match for people to watch.
“Tonight I feel like I played at a quite high level and I was serving a little better than him, which was the key. There were a lot of tight games and I felt the level of the match was high.”
After beating Wolf with a clinical performance in their third-round meeting, which included some typically entertaining moments, Kyrgios said he was “happy to move forward and play Medvedev.”
The combustible Kyrgios has appeared to play with more focus in New York but has allowed his emotions to get the better of him on occasion.
That included in the second round when he was seen spitting on court and directing a tirade at the members of his box, also calling out members of the crowd for smoking marijuana. Kyrgios was later fined $7,500 by organizers.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, Russian 27th seed Karen Khachanov is also safely into the fourth round after British opponent Jack Draper was forced to retire injured in the third set of their match.
Khachanov had been leading 6-3 4-6 6-5 at the time of the retirement, and next moves on to play Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
A fourth-round appearance in New York is already a career best result for Khachanov, 26, at the tournament, although he has previously reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the French Open.