Novak Djokovic will take on rival Stan Wawrinka for a spot in the U.S. Open fourth round on Sunday. Meanwhile, newly-crowned villain Daniil Medvedev continues his campaign against qualifier Dominik Koepfer for a spot in the quarterfinals.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (23) Stan Wawrinka
Djokovic has already had an injury scare in New York. The shoulder pain that bothered the Serb in Cincinnati had him wincing all through his second round match against Juan Ignacio Londero. He received treatment on court several times before closing out the the match in straight sets. There were no obvious signs of pain in his third-round match against Denis Kudla, but in his post-match interview the defending champion and world No. 1 refused to discuss his condition beyond saying that he played “virtually pain-free.”
If there is lingering soreness there, Wawrinka is going to expose it. Djokovic has an impressive head-to-head record over Wawrinka, but the matches the Swiss has won are the important ones. Sunday will mark the 25th meeting between the two men, and Wawrinka has only won five…but his three most recent wins came at the U.S. Open, Roland Garros, and the Australian Open.
Wawrinka has been slowly making his way back from left knee surgery and now appears to be back to top form physically. Despite the fact that he is the No. 23 seed, Wawrinka is a formidable opponent and this match has the potential to be the match of the tournament so far. It’s hard to pick against Djokovic, as he’s such a rock at the majors, but if Wawrinka finds a way to win it won’t be a huge surprise.
Cheryl pick: Djokovic in 4
Ricky pick: Djokovic in 4
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(5) Daniil Medvedev vs. Dominik Koepfer
Controversy is nothing new for Medvedev. In 2017 at Wimbledon, the temperamental Russian threw a handful of coins at umpire Mariana Alves’s chair. After the match, he was unable to explain why he chose that particular protest. He upped the villain ante on Friday in New York. A tired Medvedev was the surliest we’ve seen him in a while. He yanked a towel from the hands of an unsuspecting ballkid and threw it on the ground, which nabbed him a code violation. He gave the booing crowd the middle finger, threw his racket in the direction of chair umpire Damien Dumussois, and when he finally defeated Feliciano Lopez he trolled the still-booing crowd by telling them they’re the reason he won the match.
Koepfer has been much quieter as he’s made his way through the draw. The qualifier pocketed excellent wins over Reilly Opelka and No. 17 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili to set up this fourth-round encounter with Medvedev. The Russian will still be considered the favorite to make the quarterfinals, but given his trouble with cramping earlier in the tournament and his physical exertion against Lopez, it could be an excellent opportunity for the world No. 118 to get an upset win over a top 10 player.
Cheryl pick: Medvedev in 4
Ricky pick: Medvedev in 3
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Djoker in four and Koepfer in five
D4, M3
Joker in 3 (though my heart says Wka); Medv in 3.
Tense times for a Nole fan. I don’t like his pain management plan – nor do I trust it to be the best. But if he went somewhere credible while in NYC and had an MRI and careful diagnostic assessment on the shoulder after that match when he was clearly in debilitating pain that was bad enough to restrict his arm movement – then I have to keep my mouth shut, go along, and support him. Hope he wins and can play his best otherwise, advantage Stan. I’m not comfortable predicting this one.
I’m with you, Elizabeth. The disappearing pain has me concerned about more permanent damage. I hope all is well.
Thank you, Cheryl.
Hope all is well too.
Cheryl..fed is playing so well ..primed to win uso ? I think djoko if he makes semi will have tough ones against stan n Medvedev n fed will have him..fed anyways has rafas number now outside clay..I think fed is winning uso
Sanju, I’m never surprised when one of the Big 3 wins a major. But just like Rafa at the Australian Open, Fed isn’t really at his best in New York. I’m not inclined to consider him the favorite just yet, but his prospects are certainly higher since it seems Djokovic is not 100% healthy.
Prospects about Rafa Cheryl ? Hope he can survive cilic (:-
He was a little scratchy in his last match, but generally I’ve been impressed with his form. I don’t think Cilic is playing well enough to take him out. I expect that we will see him in the final next Sunday.
Medvedev in 3. Like he said – winning the next 5 matches 😀
HA! the late bloomer,25 y/o qualifier, Dominik Koepfer takes the first set, impressively.
Liking Koepfer’s tennis brain already but actually hoping the bad boy Medvedev wins because he’s my bracket pick. And one reason the baddy boy is deep in my bracket is to cheer me up if he wins, because I really hope he LOSES 😀
The fans are too quiet. Medvedev needs to do something off color to get the crowd into it. But Medvedev already has 20K in fines for his conduct… so maybe he wants to forget his absurd speech. Daniil looks fairly subdued tonight. I think it’s 500K on the line if one reaches a GS QF US Open…that is what I thought I heard a commentator say. What a great win for Koepfer that would be!!
Ha, so Medvedev gets a fine! That’ll at least keep him well behaved for a while; he’s there to make money, not losing money!
It appears now that Medvedev has perked up a bit and wants this win. He’s put more pace on the ball and took the 2nd set easily.
Come on Koepfer, keep fighting!
Koepfer should retire, he can’t win. Give Medvedev his best chance in the quarter finals.
Let the chips fall where they may.
Right. Maybe they should cut a deal, Koepfer retires for 25% if Medvedev’s prize money? Are you sure you used to play tennis?
?
Sorry, Elizabeth, that flippant remark was not aimed at you. Also sorry about Djoko’s retirement. He seems optimistic about playing Tokyo but I hope he learns from others’ mistakes in playing with injuries and takes the time he needs to heal up.
The crowd, if they want Koepfer to win, better don’t make so much noise in cheering for him, it may just spur the defiant Medvedev to play better and better to get the win in the end.
It’s just like Fed vs Djoko at Wimbledon; Djoko and Medvedev both work on the negative energy the crowd send them! Meanwhile, Medvedev is serving some second serve bombs that Koepfer just couldn’t handle. Medvedev’s serve is really something, especially his booming second serve when he needs them.
Medvedev is really taking after his model player Djoko, both in game style and personality on court. I do admire what both could do with their game on court, amazing players.
Ouch. But I do see why you say so, Lucky. I took me awhile to appreciate and then root for Novak. But I never thought ill of him like I do Medvedev.
Well my TV is forcing me to watch Keys and Svitolina now. Which is fine with me – I wanted to catch their match. No more Medvedev Koepfer for me now, anyways.
Djoko doesn’t behave as badly as Medvedev.
Medvedev has a nasty side of him that we won’t like, but I do feel that’s because of his strong desire to win, to be successful and then getting to live a good life out of his success. At least he works hard at it, making full use of his talent, but at the same time is ambitious, unlike Davydenko who was more interested in gathering his wealth by winning as many smaller events as possible instead of winning the big titles. I like Davydenko btw, because he did play good tennis when his game was on.
At least Medvedev will make full use of his talent, unlike that Kyrgios guy.
Thank you, for the kind words about Nole, Luckystar.
I don’t care what motivated Davydenko. I just loved watching him.
Tennis needs Medvedev’s no matter what I feel about him, and well…I believe I’m alone on this: also Kyrgios.
Am I the only one cheering for Medvedev? I really want to see him doing well at a slam, to seal his position as a TOP five player; not like Sasha who’s under so much criticism for not getting past a QF at a slam after being in top ten for so long!
All the former regular old Guards in the TOP ten – Tsonga, Berdych, Ferrer, Stan, Cilic, Delpo – they have at least reach a slam final if not winning it.
Come on Medvedev, send this Koepfer guy packing!
I think at least you, Lucky, and Jim Courier are on the same page cheering for Medvedev. I have no well wishes for Medvedev. Only good is that his win here will help my bracket.
Koepfer is the one I’d like to see get the boost from the 500K!
Svitolina – Keys match is good, so far. I need Keys to win but I like Elina Tennis more.
Big hold by Medvedev. 0:40
In the women’s, Wang hasnt dropped a set. Theres a good chance she’ll give Serena a spanking out of nowhere. If not, she will prob play Svitolina which I dont think Serena would want. Svitolina is a tough nut.
Thanks for coming Koepfer
Haha. Medvedev.
Ha ha Medvedev wins in the end despite being the rascal that he is.
Well done to both guys. Medvedev’s defiance helps him to win? Actually I want him to win too because of the crowd ( I can’t stand a crowd that cheer against a player consistently throughout a match, which was also why I wished for Djoko to win against Fed at Wimbledon). I mean in Medvedev’s case, it’s a new match, a new day, stop cheering against him if he doesn’t do anything wrong in the match to warrant the ‘hostility’ against him.
I admire Medvedev’s guts, guts to take on the New York crowd! They behave like big bullies imo!
They were just miserable to Djokovic for YEARS because of that Roddick incident. In fact, they still won’t cheer for him…they just don’t boo him anymore. They’re a little….feral.
He’s even less popular at Wimby for reasons I don’t need to explain.
Well unlike Medvedev, Novak actually wants to be loved and respected and it’s hard on him when he’s accomplished so much and seems to expect at least respect – but he is still the bad guy of the big three.
Medvedev truly doesn’t give a rats what the crowd thinks. Maybe after he works his arse off for another decade, has won many titles and held #1, he will not be quite so fine with the constant bad guy role. I would admire his sarcastic speech more if he had not earned the booing by jerking the towel out of the kid’s hand, throwing it down and flipping off the crowd. He asked for it in that last match and got it. He is, however I feel about him, clever and amazingly talented. And his little dance after his match tonight was cheeky. He does like being Daniil Medvedev at this point!! lol
Maybe over time I will no choice but to appreciate him. Or not.
Congrats to Elina Svitolina! Sorry for all the brackets that picked bracket busters: Keys, Halep, Pliskova, Barty, ect… Nice to have Svitolina healthy and moving well.
Elizabeth, you’re right. Nole’s desire to be liked is one of the reasons the New York crowd dislikes him. They’re kind of mean that way. My kids would call him a try hard.
And I agree that being disrespectful to a ballkid is poorly done. Those kids don’t get paid…there is NO EXCUSE for that kind of behavior. He definitely earned Friday night’s boos.
Cheryl, for your kindness — thank you again.
And I am not up to watching Novak play. Time for me to take a walk. Some good tennis today. Cheers. I’ll check scores maybe tomorrow LOL… how the heck did I get so attached to a tennis player!
Elizabeth – when I was young, I was like that with Andre Agassi. After a while, I couldn’t bring myself to watch him play Pete Sampras. It was so excruciating. So I know the feeling.
I can relate to that totally as an Agassi fan. But I consoled myself that Agassi had the edge on the slower high bouncing courts.
A question I keep asking myself…
Do you really think Novak is disliked? He’s certainly well liked at RG. Is it just that more fans prefer Roger or Rafa? Why can’t fans be as adult about rivalries as most players seem to be? Rafa would think it insane to dislike someone because he beat him at tennis! Plus if players acted like that he and Roger would be the most hated guys in the locker room, which they are certainly not.
But he didn’t earn this one today, that was last match. A mature crowd would have moved on and behaved like adults instead they kept on the booing. I am not a fan of medvedev at all but what he did with the ball boy was bad but we all have done stupid irrational things when we are frustrated, in pain or losing something. Doesnt excuse it but he was not taking it out on the kid intentionally, he was just lost in frustration. Please he didn’t kill anybody.
The crowd continuing on is bullying period. Medvedev trolling them again is just comedy gold again. Sorry but the crowd deserve it. I dont think djokovic cares whether he’s liked or not any more, he has earned his place as one of the greatest and deserves respect and he has my respect in abundance. He’s after federer’s record and all the haters better start respecting him whether they want to or not. He has won 4 of the last 5 grandslams. And this is not the first time he has done it nor the second time he has done something similar or close,I rest my case.
Hi Happy, I’m with you about the crowd’s behaviour towards Medvedev and Djoko.
Medvedev didn’t do anything wrong in this Koepfer match so he didn’t deserve the treatment from the crowd. Yep, I’m so pleased that he got the chance to retaliate against them and to irritate them in the end! Just don’t like their bullying, poor Djoko, just because he offended them during that Roddick case doesn’t mean he deserves such treatment from them year after year.
Dang it Koepfer! Happy for Medvedev, I like him as a player and I have had mixed opinions about his recent antics (not a fan of his actions vs Lopez but impressed at his response to crowd and I found some of the stuff he has done or said hilarious but also annoying) but I really wanted Koepfer to win this one. It would have been incredible to see the underdog continue his run. Kudos to Medvedev though. One of the least surprising maiden runs to a slam quarter final ever LOL
It’s a really big ask to get through qualies and then reach the quarterfinals, you know that! Koepfer had a great tournament, seems like a nice guy and I wish him well.
Benny, I’m with you about Medvedev. I’ve already seen the nasty side of him well before this USO, so I’m not surprised by his behaviour in the Lopez match. He was bad and so he deserved the jeering and booing, and also the fine imposed for his bad behaviour. He’s witty and gutsy though, dare to go against the crowd and irritated them further!
I don’t see the need to cheer against him in this Koepfer match though, as he wasn’t behaving badly. It’s unlike Kyrgios where no matter how badly he behaved, the crowd still wanted to support him in his subsequent matches! It’s ridiculous! As if encouraging Kyrgios to continue with his bad behaviours.
I hope Medvedev reaches the final and meets Rafa there, Rafa will show him what’s good behaviour and I doubt Medvedev will be disrespectful towards Rafa. I just hope the crowd don’t get too enthusiastic cheering against Medvedev to spur him into giving Rafa tonnes of problems!