It seems like only yesterday that Daniil Medvedev was regarded as a rising star of the next gen. But at the age of 25, and after reaching his third US Open semi-final in three years, Medvedev is emerging as something of an old timer at this unforgettable tournament of the teenagers.
Having dispatched the Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp 6-0, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, the Russian second seed faces a last-four meeting with either Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 12th seed, or Carlos Alcaraz, the 18-year-old Spaniard who announced himself to the world last week with an epic five-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Neither man has previously made the semi-finals of a major, and Medvedev is confident that his experience on the big stage will give him an edge, enabling him to relax and play his best tennis.
“Experience helps me,” said Medvedev, who lost an epic final to Rafael Nadal in New York two years ago and reached his second major final at this year’s Australian Open. “Whoever wins is going to be on huge fire. You know they are much younger than even me, [and] I’m not old. But for them it’s going to be a first semis of a slam.
“Experience is not everything, because, for example, when I was in my first semis of a slam, I won it. Doesn’t mean if you’re there for the first time you’re going to lose it. But I like that I have this experience. I know how it is. I’m not going to be tight. After, it’s a question about tennis: if I play good, it’s not going to be easy for my opponent.”
It certainly wasn’t easy for Van de Zandschulp. Medvedev, who has now won 13 of his past 14 matches, has been the man to beat over the North American hard-court swing. He had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set and Van de Zandschulp, the world No 117, knew it would take something special to make an impression on the Russian.
To that end, the qualifier came out swinging. It was a strategy that did him no favours. As Van de Zandschulp made 19 unforced errors, Medvedev established a commanding two-set lead. The Dutchman was forced to seek treatment on his thigh at the end of the second set, and a comeback looked highly improbable for a player who had toiled for 19 hours and 17 minutes – almost 12 hours longer than Medvedev – to make the last eight.
But come back Van de Zandschulp did, altering his approach intelligently to capitalise on a sudden drop in Medvedev’s level. As Van de Zandschulp began taking pace off the ball, forcing the world No 2 to generate power of his own rather than simply absorb it and send it back with interest, the Medvedev machine stalled.
Now Van de Zandschulp began to show something like the quality of tennis that had carried him to eye-catching victories over Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman earlier in the tournament. With Medvedev camped out deep behind the baseline, the rallies became ever more extended and brutal, one even reaching 30 shots, the longest exchange at this year’s US Open.
As so often in recent weeks, it was the impregnability of Medvedev’s serve that saw him home. Van de Zandschulp sprung a surprise serve-and-volley in the tenth game to save a match point, distracting Medvedev enough for him to miss his return, but two games later an undercooked drop shot brought an end to the challenger’s resistance.
“The third and fourth set were really tough,” said Medvedev. “He played top level, served really big. He was breaking the rhythm a little bit, so it was a really tough set. I’m really happy that in the fourth I managed to, first of all, hold my serve really easily and managed to break him in the end.”
Experience will do that for you.