By Steve Keating
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Daniil Medvedev had been the forgotten man coming into the U.S. Open, but the third seeded Russian popped up on everyone’s radar after steamrolling past Attila Balazs 6-1 6-1 6-0 and into the second round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.
With world numbers one and two Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic hogging the spotlight, Medvedev had gone pretty much unnoticed in the run up to the season’s final Grand Slam.
But with his clinical dissection of Balazs, he served notice that he remains a real threat to claim his second U.S. Open title in three years.
“I don’t care it is normal Carlos and Novak are the biggest names right now,” said Medvedev when asked if he felt overlooked. “My goal is to play well and get to where they are and try to win that is all I can do.”
Balazs, who retired from competitive tennis in 2014 and began coaching before resuming his career in 2016, had no ideas on how to deal with Medvedev and the former world number one was in total control right from the start, breaking the Hungarian at the first opportunity in all three sets.
Medvedev, who hit 41 winners, seemed to be able to break his opponent at will while Balazs could not create a single break chance in the entire match.
The one bright moment for Balazs came with Medvedev up 5-0 in the third set and serving for the match when he chased down a ball and fired a cross-court winner that the Russian applauded, while the crowd roared their approval as the Hungarian broke into a big smile and raised his arms into the air in triumph.
The moment was brief, however, as Medvedev would close out the contest the very next point to move into the next round where he will take on Australian Christopher O’Connell.
After losing to eventual champion Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semi-finals, Medvedev has had a quiet U.S. Open buildup, getting to the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open and the round of 16 a week later in Cincinnati.
But Medvedev has always produced some of his best work in New York, reaching the final in 2019, semi-finals in 2020 and winning it in 2021.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
