By David Ramirez
03 Sep 2023, 07:01 AM EDT
Russian Daniil Medvedev, third seed at the US Open, had to use his best shots to defeat Argentine Sebastián Báez 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(6) to advance to the fourth round of the last Grand Slam of the season. .
For his part, Báez suddenly seemed to have found a way to play at the same level, reaching the point of dominating Medvedev, but his reaction was late. The world number 3 came through the first two sets but trailed 5-2 in the third before pulling off a win, rallying after dropping three match points in the tiebreak. Medvedev ended the match at 1:29 am with an ace.
“I was a bit better on important points, everything was going my way. In the third set he raised his level a bit to make the match even more difficult. A bit of luck and a good game on my part kept me in the fight”, Medvedev commented after the match.
Baez found his best weapon in his forehand in the third set, and used it to take a 5-2 lead, despite missing four break points in a 22-point game that Medvedev won to make it 4-2.
After midnight a light rain delayed the game a bit while the cover of the Arthur Ashe Stadium was closed. This forced break served for Medvedev to recover his energy and go with everything to face the Argentine, choosing his best shots. After closing at 5-4, he fought off set point on his serve and then wrapped up the tiebreaker victory, which he led 6-3 before winning 8-6. The 27-year-old Medvedev, who was the 2021 US Open champion, reaches the fourth round of the US Open for the fifth consecutive year. That streak began in 2019, when he lost the final against Rafael Nadal.