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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I think Medvedev’s behavior toward the ball boy was inexcusable! Period!
I am with Elizabeth in saying that he richly deserved the boos from the crowd. New Yorkers are tough but honest. They don’t like to see someone treat a ball kid like dirt! Bravo to them!
Medvedev’s speech to the crowd was self-indulgent and stupid. Since when did the New York fans get to bullies? The guy gave them the finger, threw his racket and worst of all, violently grabbed the towel from a ball kid. He got exactly what he deserved from the crowd.
I guess it’s been too long since 9/11. Attitudes have sure changed since then.
yep, he really earned the boos from the crowd by behaving like that.
The fact that that he is able to use that negative energy to spur himself is fun to watch though
No NNY, it’s not about that match, it’s about this Koepfer match. He didn’t behave badly yet the crowd still cheered against him, to me that’s bullying!
They bully Djoko too, no matter what he does! I never like the New York crowd tbh! They pick and choose who they want to bully, they condone Kyrgios bad behaviour no matter what, still cheering for him despite his ongoing bad behaviour.
The New York crowd ARE bullies period. So it’s okay for them to continue booing medvedev in this match when he actually behaved well and cheer for kyrgios when he does MUCH MUCH worse consistently and boo djokovic no matter what he does for years since that roddick incident. With all due respect that’s not logical imho.
They booed osaka last year. Whether they understood what was going on or not then, does not excuse booing her when she was announced as the winner IN THE TROPHY PRESENTATION. if they wanted to boo, boo the chair umpire especially when he comes to receive his reward though the chair umpire did nothing wrong actually. Causing the poor girl to cry and apologize for beating serena, now that’s inexcusable.
Exactly Happy! The New York crowd, they’re the big bullies, and yes I forgot about the Osaka case last year.
They just want to bully those that they don’t like, I mean Serena herself at times was a big bully herself yet they won’t boo her as she’s their own people. Osaka didn’t do anything wrong but she got all the booing.
Novak-Stan is one of my favourite match ups. The quality of baseline rallies is just breath-taking! This is such a big test for Novak. We know he has developed the ability to raise his level at the final stages of slams but what happens when he is up against this big a challenge as early as in the 4th round?
Stan is playing great and as usual, proving to be so difficult for Novak. The dynamic of baseline rallies if just messed up for Novak.
Ps, Novak’s been hitting some great volleys of late!
It’s the hard hitters who could hit big persistently and consistently who would give Djoko plenty of problems. Stan is one strong and fit guy who could go toe to toe with Djoko to go the distance, so Djoko just couldn’t gain any advantage over Stan.
Djoko doesn’t have Rafa’s topspin or Fed’s quick net rushing abilities to deal with Stan’s power game.
Wawrinka is dialed in big time.
Stan seems to have turned back the clock tonight. I wondered if he could bring it and challenge Novak the way he has in the past. His power game is flowing beautifully. Nice to see him feeling it and delivering with some stellar tennis.
Wawrinka is Djokovic’s nemesis, he loves going toe-to-toe with him.
IM SCREAMING WITH JOY COME ON STAN HES JUST BULLYING THE DJOKER I LOVE STANIMAL
I write a comment about how great it is to see Stan playing so well, but it did not show up. He has really brought the goods tonight! Wow! I wondered if he could make this a match and challenge Novak the way he did in the past. The answer is a resounding YES!
Stan is taking it to Novak. He is one of a very few players whose power game can do a lot of damage against Novak. It’s like the old Stan,
Wow, Wawrinka approaching God mode, up two sets to love. Very hard to see Novak coming back from this. The power coming off of Stan’s racquet is truly awesome.
Novak has looked vulnerable in this tournament and you can tell he is just lacking in confidence and not able to play at this best. Stan has found great rhythm on the other hand and we know how tough a prospect that is even for a 100% nole.
Novak retired!
His shoulder could not handle Stan’s power play!!
Wish Novak a speedy recovery!
When facing a situation to fight with the opponent, it becomes an injury and retirement.
When facing a weak opponent, it is almost pain free.
That sounds contradictory,
Which of the two statements above believable?
Would Novak have retired had it been one set all ..Novak could have easily won second
He was not playing bad ..just that Stan was way better
Novak lost 1820 points ..this makes the no 1 year end a three horse race now
It won’t be a three horse race. I don’t expect Fed to sweep up everything from now on.
Whether Fed will win this USO or not depends also on how his opponents perform too; who knows, if any of them could stretch him to go five sets after five sets, he won’t be in tip top conditions reaching the final.
It’s not only about how Fed plays but also how the others play too.
Seriously, if Rafa wins the USO, he has a good chance to finish the year as no.1, provided he doesn’t overplay. I mean he still has Davis Cup matches, Laver Cup, and then the two remaining masters and the WTF to play. Plus, he’s getting married, so he can’t afford to get injured and spoils everything.
Rafa should forget about the year end no. 1. his only priority should be the US open. anything else is just icing on the cake. The last time he was obsessed about the no.1, he got it but paid a terrible price with multiple injuries since then till april this year. He’s goal if he should win this one should be play one more tournament (apart from davis cup) and WTF and get married. Remember he had a knee injury this year on a hardcourt again. Prevention is better than cure.
No Happy, that year in 2017, it’s due to his ‘stupidity’ in playing everything from Laver Cup, Beijing and Shanghai that got him injured. He didn’t get injured only at WTF, or because he’s pursuing the YE no.1 ranking.
I believe he’s going to skip Beijing this year after the Laver Cup, at least he’s wiser now, learning from past mistake (the mistake that to me had cost him his 2018 and the chance to defend the YE no.1).
Novak will probably take some time off now. He doesn’t have a tear or anything but needs rest isshould be okay for Shanghai but might miss it, who knows! I feel if his effort will depend on how many points Fed and esp Rafa can gain this week.
If Rafa wins USO, he will quite likely end the year as no.1
Wawa vs Rafa in the final, most likely. 50:50 chances for both.
Fed won’t be able to handle this Wawa.
Fed is winning uso..Stan won’t beat fed here
If Fed wins USO i’ll be very shocked bcos he’s playing very terrible!! Hope Stan beats him, seriously, bcos Stan is playing way better!
Goffin seemed comatose in his match against Fed today so not much to takeaway from this match
Fed also had the advantage over Evans because of the rain delay, when Evans had no rest from R2 to R3 after beating Pouille in a 3+ hours match. I would expect more resistance from Evans had it not for the rain delay; he’s able to push the TOP players with his style of play, despite not beating them.
Fed has played the two quickest matches of the tournament by anyone back to back. Pretty sure he’s not playing terrible…
Saying Fed is playing terrible is a bit comical, considering the scorelines of his last two matches. Anything can happen, but with Nole out Fed has to be considered the favorite to win the tournament. Apart from Rublev, who beat him last month in Cinci, here are the last times the remaining players beat Fed on a hard court:
Dimitrov: Never (6-0)
Wawrinka: Never (17-0)
Medvedev: Never (3-0)
Monfils: 2013
Nadal: 2014
Cilic: 2014
Sorry, I forgot about Zverev and Schwartzman; the former actually has a winning record against Fed:
Zverev: 2018 (1-2)
Schwartzman: Never
Rublev? He’s 1-0 over Fed, and won their latest encounter at Cincy!
Rublev is mentioned in the initial post.
Vamosrafa..Rafa can handle cilic ? A bit nervous about it
Hey, I am not too worried about that one. We all know Marin is dangerous but Rafa will handle in 3 or 4 sets in my view
Come on Sanju, of course Rafa can handle Cilic! Cilic barely scraped past Isner, who wasn’t playing his best tennis either. Why do you have so little faith in Rafa, when Rafa is playing well here? Rafa rarely underperforms in slams when he’s playing well and in good form.
Imo, it’s those players like Djoko, who hits flat and penetrating shots that will give Rafa much problems, not those big hitters or big servers. He has good records against them (big hitters and big servers).
Come on Sanju. You’re a fan of Nadal. Should be more confident. Cilic could beat him, but it’s hard to see that right now.
I am never confident about Rafa .I just pray he does not lose .it’s not without reason I am not confident as he has flattered to deceive a lot too
Elizabeth,
I wanted to leave this for you. All along you knew there was a problem with Nole. You were right not to watch. He obviously has a shoulder problem that needs to be dealt with and some much needed rest. Stan played like his old self. He brought his “A” game. As the match went on it was obvious that something was wrong with Nole. He had to quit at the beginning of the third set, down two sets. He just could not play. He did get some treatment for the shoulder.
Now I do have to criticize my hometown New York fans. Boo Medvedev. He really deserved it. But not Nole. That was hard to hear the crowd booing Nole as he walked off the court. A real shame.
At least you know that he will take care of this injury and you don’t have to worry about him risking it to continue playing. He wanted to try and play. But it was just not going to happen.
I know about being so invested in a player! Boy do I know! I just hope for you that this gives you peace of mind. Nole will deal with this and be back healthy again.
😘
@NNY
Great post! I echo your sentiments. It’s so very hard to see your fave injured.
I’m okay now, Ramara.
Vamos Rafa!
Thanks again, NNY.
I’m relieved he went out last night and finally quit risking more injury to his left shoulder.
Hey – I pray Dorian gets nowhere near you. Stay safe, Nny!!
Elizabeth,
Glad to see you here. You can relax now and know that Novak won’t be risking anything. He needed to stop.
The hurricane shifted and we will not get a direct hit in Palm Beach County. But because it is so strong we will get rain and high winds. I am not near the coast and they are the ones who could get hit with the storm surge. But we may lose power. It could land further up north in Florida near the space station. So we did get a break in avoiding the direct hit they thought we would get. It’s just about seeing if the power goes out and how soon it comes back on.
Thanks for you concern!
😘
Nny,
Well then, you have a lot of smarts to resist the lure of beach front property and I certainly am glad! Yes outer bands of Dorian can do enough damage. Maybe you have a generator after that last scare.
And I wonder if Dorian will track up the East coast and affect our little tennis tournament? Probably a lot of wind and/or rain by next weekend. This thing is a slow moving disaster, so they say.
Elizabeth,
I don’t have a generator, so I just have to hope that if we lose power it’s not for long. I glad that I do not live near the beach!
If it does get up to New York, it will be a lot weaker. It could hang around for a while, going up to Georgia and the Carolinas.
I sort of agree with what someone said above. I would never go as far as to say Fed “can’t handle this Stan”, because Fed has “handled” an in-form Stan every time they have ever played off of clay- even at the majors. What I would say is that an in-form Stan absolutely CAN beat Fed anywhere outside of Wimbledon, and I would actually favor him slightly to win at this US Open because the conditions are so slow. Fed will have to play so aggressively to counter the barrage of baseline power that Stan will throw at him. So yes, I would actually favor Stan slightly if they met in the SF, but not overwhelmingly. Saying that Fed “can’t handle this Stan” is literally a false statement. It is Stan who has never handled Fed off of clay, even since he became the world-beater Stan. Since Stan emerged and won 2014 AO, Fed has beaten Stan at Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open, and even Roland Garros, while Stan beat him once at Roland Garros. And 3 of those 4 losses to Fed each came within months of Stan winning a major. So who can’t “handle” who here? To me it’s more of a question of if the conditions at USO give Stan the edge. I watched Fed in person today, and even though Goffin was awful, Fed was still very sharp and served well. He also was very sharp against Evans. Evans being tired is irrelevant to how Fed hit a ton of winners and few UE, and served well. That is where Fed struggled in beginning of the first two matches- he served poorly and sprayed balls everywhere. At least in his last two matches, he clearly has gotten more comfortable with the conditions. I just think that the recent US Open favors Stan a lot, so I think it would give him an edge.
However, I still see Rafa as the favorite as of now. These conditions suit him so well, and he’s so well-rested and healthy. I give Cilic about a 5% of upsetting Rafa. If this were Wimbledon or AO I would give him a higher chance, but not here. This is just right in Rafa’s sweet spot as far as hard courts are concerned. The only person I would have outright favored over Rafa is now out of the tournament, so Rafa’s chances only increase now in my eyes.
If your favor Wawrinka to beat Fed and the odds for Wawrinka are greater than 2/1, that means Wawrinka is a good bet does it now? You will most likely get 3/1 or greater.
How much are you putting on Wawrinka IF he makes the semis?
Having skin the game confirms your conviction otherwise there’s a good chance you dont actually believe what youre saying.
Of course Evans being tired might be why he couldn’t get to some of those winners by Fed. Also the quicker conditions in the day may be why Fed could serve better when his serves may be more difficult to return.
I do feel that nowadays the court conditions matter more to Fed than during his younger days. We saw how playing at night and playing during the day could make quite a difference in the way Fed played.
https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1172718/Stan-Wawrinka-Roger-Federer-Rafael-Nadal-US-Open/amp
Haha
Kevin. Why was the roof shut today all day ? Seemed on TV it was shut
The court surely did not look slow in the djoko Stan match neither fed goffin match..balls were flying fast
I agree. And others seem to be saying that the court conditions are fast, not slow. Certainly faster than last year USO.
Fed called the court dead but it surely does not look slow..god knows what was he saying..the Stan djoko match was looking so quick
It seems that the court is quicker during the day, the organisers gave Fed the first slot for two consecutive matches now at AA and so Fed had it easier in his last two matches compared to the two matches in his first two rounds.
The court is slower during the night session because of the moisture in the air without the sun drying up some of it. I doubt Fed is complaining playing at noon; I think the court speed suits him more at that time slot.
But now with djoko out .he will get the night match for qf n maybe even semi ..
He’ll always be given favourable time slot; I guess they want a Fedal final now that Djoko is out.
He played not much late in dzumhur match ..it was second match of day n yet he called it dead
The weather that day was bad, remember matches being postponed to Thursday due to rain? I think there’s not much sun on that day too!