Nick Kyrgios v Daniil Medvedev: US Open tennis fourth round – live! | US Open Tennis 2022

Medvedev 5-5 Kyrgios* (* – denotes next server)

Medvedev holds at love, punctuated by two aces.

Stats through 10 games …

• Kyrgios has six aces and has landed 82% of his first serves.

• Not many unforced errors either way: 6 Kyrgios, 5 Medvedev

*Medvedev 4-5 Kyrgios* (* – denotes next server)

Have I used the word “sublime” yet tonight? That’s how Medvedev returned at 15-15, dinking the ball cross-court and forcing Kyrgios to stretch to reach it.

Smash, smash, smash, and Kyrgios holds anyway. Medvedev will serve to prolong the set.

Medvedev 4-4 Kyrgios* (* – denotes next server)

Kyrgios takes the first point.

Ace, won rally, ace, backhand winner off Kyrgios’ return. That was quick.

*Medvedev 3-4 Kyrgios (* – denotes next server)

Now Medvedev urges the crowd to get on his side, miraculously dropping the ball in front of Kyrgios’ feet right at the net to go up 15-30. He wins the next one and has two break points.

Kyrgios uses nearly all of the serve clock to compose himself, then dominates the next rally. But Medvedev calmly returns everything in the next one, Kyrgios hits into the net, and we’re back on serve.

Summary

*Medvedev 2-3 Kyrgios (* – denotes next server)

I blinked. Kyrgios held. Anyone else think they should raise the net in men’s tennis?

Medvedev 2-2 Kyrgios* (* – denotes next server)

A quick smile between the two players as Medvedev lands a shot barely in. Ah, Hawk-eye. How you keep the peace. In the past, that probably would’ve been a big argument. Especially if one of the players in the ESPN booth who name ends in “enroe” was playing.

Medvedev holds at love.

*Medvedev 1-2 Kyrgios (* – denotes next server)

Game 3 opens with a 20-shot rally in which both players have to cover some ground before Kyrgios hits the net. Kyrgios rebounds with a couple of big serves, including an ace on a second serve. Then it’s a double fault, and it’s 30-30, but that’s merely an interruption in a succession of bangers.

Medvedev 1-1 Kyrgios* (* – denotes next server)

Kyrgios seems very much up for the fight tonight. Medvedev has a wayward first point. On the next, Kyrgios forces the No. 1 seed to run wide and then rushes the net. Medvedev returns once, but Kyrgios ends up with an easy winner.

An ace stems the tide, but Kyrgios wins the next for two break points.

Medvedev is No. 1 for a reason, of course, and that reason is an accumulation of positive results over a period of time that are fed into some sort of mathematical … anyway, he plays a couple of points expertly and then hits a drop shot. Ad Medvedev, and he forces the Australian to hit long on his next return. Crisis averted.

*Medvedev 0-1 Kyrgios (* – denotes next server)

After Kyrgios’ ace, we have a rather tame rally that ends when Medvedev gets the proverbial rush of blood to the head and hits wide. Kyrgios errs on the next point, but Medvedev returns the factor.

Boom. Ace. 133 mph. Ouch.

No, the match hasn’t started yet.

This isn’t even a Serena-ceremony night. Tomorrow’s a US holiday, so I guess no one’s in a hurry.

OK, here we go – Medvedev won the toss and let Krygios serve first. Ace.

Kyrgios tells ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe that he’s looking forward to playing the best player in the world in the best stadium in the world.

Both players agree that their serve will be very important. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if a player said otherwise?

I am Beau Dure! Vanquisher of Northern Virginia traffic! King of soccer refereeing! Why is my computer taking so long to load!

Thanks very much to Tom for getting this party started. We’re looking forward to a great matchup that starts at 7 pm US Sports Time (9am AEST), which means maybe … 10 minutes?

While we wait for the players to take court, here’s what Coco Gauff was doing earlier on Arthur Ashe:

These two have played each other twice already this year with the series tied at 1-1. Kyrgios won the last meeting at the Masters tournament in Canada. But it was Medvedev who won a four setter the last time they met at a grand slam: on Kyrgios’ home turf at the Australia Open. Kyrgios won the other two matches between the two, in 2019.

The evening crowd is filing into Arthur Ashe stadium after that win from Gauff earlier. It’s a humid, warm night in New York, so this one will be a leg-sapper for both men if it goes long. Or medium, for that matter.

A bit of news from the women’s draw: home hope Coco Gauff is through to the quarter-finals after overcoming Zhang Shuai on Arthur Ashe in the match before this one:

Beau will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how Nick Kyrgios fared in his last match:

Nick Kyrgios continued his stirring progression in New York in an off-Broadway setting at Flushing Meadows on Friday night. As Serena Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion, was sent into probable retirement by fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, Kyrgios was blitzing JJ Wolf 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in 1hr 55m on nearby Louis Armstrong Stadium.

In a normal US Open, a Friday night outing on Armstrong would scarcely be a sideshow, such is the electric vibe that can be felt on a court that is grand in its own right. Kyrgios is the best supporting actor to start the US Open and the Wimbledon finalist was never seriously challenged by Wolf, a hard-working wildcard entry.

But with the American underdog Wolf giving his all, the atmosphere was particularly lively. “Amazing. It was a very tough match for me. I know JJ is a hometown favourite, so I really had to be on my guard today,” Kyrgios said.

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