US OPEN: Daniil Medvedev Goes Past Christopher O’Connell in four sets to reach third round

Daniil Medvedev digged deep to defeat Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2 and captured his 250th hard-court victory and reach the third round of the season’s final major.

The third seed and 2021 champion had two match points at 6/4 in the third-set tie-break before the 29-year-old O’Connell won four consecutive points against the World No.3.

“Tough match. I don’t know why, but at one moment in the match he decided to play better,” joked Medvedev in his on-court interview. “I played the same from the first point to the last. It became much tougher for me, so I’m happy that I was able to still hang in there. I had opportunities in the third set, and I managed to use them in the fourth.”

“When you get frustrated, you never know. You could lose your concentration and the match could become much tougher, or like today, I felt like maybe it helped me a little bit,” Medvedev said. “In general, I felt like it was a great match to play, honestly.”

Pursuing a second major title this fortnight, Medvedev will next look to end Sebastian Baez’s 12-match winning streak in their first meeting.

Medvedev, who is a 20-time tour-level titlist, boasts a 51-11 match record this season, claiming four of his five trophies this year on hard courts. He is the 15th active player to record 250 career hard-court wins (tour-level) and the first under age 30.

Baez advanced after Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves retired with the Argentine leading 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4. At a career-high No. 27 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the 22-year-old Baez is into the third round of a major for the first time. He arrived in New York following two consecutive tour-level titles: Kitzbühel and Winston-Salem.