‘Rafa is a big favourite also’ – Daniil Medvedev wary of Nadal after reaching US Open third round

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev raced into the third round at the US Open with a straight sets victory over Arthur Rinderknech.

Although Medvedev said he was “not super happy” with his performance, the Russian world No. 1 still came through 6-2 7-5 6-3 in the late match on Arthur Ashe. He faces unseeded Chinese youngster Wu Yibing in the third round.

Medvedev steamrolled Novak Djokovic in last year’s final and is being tipped by many to defend his title, but the 26-year-old is already wary of second seed Rafael Nadal on the other half of the draw.

When asked if he was the favourite for the trophy, Medvedev replied: “Look, I don’t want to put pressure on anybody, but I think Rafa is a big favourite also.

“He won the last time he played here against me actually. He won two Slams this year.

“He actually didn’t lose in a Grand Slam this year. He retired [at Wimbledon], which is not the same.

“In my opinion Rafa is big, let’s call it like this. I don’t want to say favourite, big favourite. He’s definitely a big figure in this tournament.

“Then for sure there are many other good guys. I’m happy to see my name sometimes in the odds or something like this because I’m like, ‘that’s great’. That means that I play some good tennis.

“Being amongst the favourites just brings me more motivation to try to do well.”

Although the Russian was focusing on his match, he said he could follow the score by the ‘boom’ from Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Here it’s New York, it’s Serena, icon, queen. I think you can say like 35 words in 10 seconds you can find amazing words to describe her,” he effused.

“This makes it even more special. It’s funny because the first match I watched on the TV because I was in my room, second match I was here, but you’re inside the stadium so you don’t hear what’s going on.

“When I went out to warm-up, warming up outside, straightaway we were like, ‘Wow, what’s happening there?’ Every point you know what’s happening.

“If it’s silent, point is to the other girl. If it goes boom, then Serena won the point. It was easy to know the score every time. Yeah, it’s just amazing. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like this before.”

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