US Open 2019: Is Daniil Medvedev poised for a Grand Slam breakthrough at Flushing Meadows?
With 14 wins from 16 matches across his last three hardcourt tournaments, Daniil Medvedev is the in-form player heading into the final Grand Slam of the year in New York next week.
The Russian leads the tour with most match wins (44) and most hardcourt wins (31) this season following his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati.
Displaying little signs of exhaustion in his 16th match in 20 days, Medvedev romped to the Cincinnati title with a straight-set win over David Goffin.
Following his recent hardcourt exploits (runner-up finishes in Washington DC and Montreal Masters and win at Cincinnati), it was prudent of the Russian to opt out of a title defence at Winston Salem and focus instead on a week of much-needed rest ahead of the US Open.
The Cincinnati win helped Medvedev ascend to a career-high no. 5 in the ATP rankings. At the US Open, which follows the ATP rankings to assign seedings to players, Medvedev is likely to be the fifth seed, thereby staying clear of big guns like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer till the quarterfinals.
The Russian is a combined 2-7 against the world's top three, with both of his wins coming against Djokovic.
Medvedev, who made his Grand Slam debut at the 2017 Australian Open (lost to Alex Bolt in 1R), has an underwhelming 11-11 win-loss record in Grand Slams. The Russian has had five first-round exits and a lone second-week appearance at a Slam (2019 Australian Open 4R: lost to Djokovic).
5th seed Stanislas Wawrinka (2017 Wimbledon 1R) is the highest seed Medvedev has overcome at a Grand Slam.
Likely to be seeded fifth himself at the last Grand Slam of the year, Medvedev will be one of the dark horses for the title in New York, with a great opportunity to advance to a maiden Slam quarterfinal and possibly even further.
On his day, the tall Russian with his booming serves off both deliveries and blistering groundstrokes has shown he possesses the game to trouble - and beat - the best players on tour, especially on faster surfaces.
However, best of five sets at a Grand Slam is a different proposition.
Will Medvedev recuperate following his three-week exertions on the North American hardcourts and rise to the challenge of making a deep run at Flushing Meadows? We will just have to wait and see.