Daniil Medvedev
Credit: Reuters\Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
New York: Former champion Daniil Medvedev was far from his best but still did enough to dispatch Fabian Marozsan 6-3 6-2 7-6(5) on Thursday to reach the US Open third round.
Medvedev won an opening set that included six breaks of serve across nine games, with the Hungarian's serve failing to pack a punch and the Russian's uncharacteristically tentative serving leading to four double faults.
Medvedev was far more comfortable from there, helped by his opponent's 45 unforced errors and catalogue of poorly-timed drop shots.
Medvedev sealed victory with a leaping backhand on match point and afterwards appeared annoyed with the muted reaction from the stands at Flushing Meadows, where he has had a rocky relationship with the crowds over the years.
"The match today, I felt like I was at an Italian restaurant … it was so noisy," Medvedev said in an on-court interview at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"Unless Roger (Federer) or the home favourite is playing, whoever is losing gets a little more support and he started playing really well in the third set so the crowd went behind him.
"So every time I would win some important point I was like come on, give me a little bit. It was really fun."
Five years ago Medvedev sarcastically told the booing U.S. Open crowd that he won his third-round match "because of them" but got the fans back on his side with a gutsy performance in the final, where he lost to Rafa Nadal.
The former world number one triumphed at the 2021 tournament for his lone Grand Slam title.
Despite making the Australian Open and Indian Wells finals this year, fifth seed Medvedev was not among the favourites coming into the U.S. Open after first-round exits at tune-up events in Canada and Cincinnati.
Medvedev, who was broken four times in the match, faces Italian 31st seed Flavio Cobolli in the third round on Saturday.