No 3 Thiem cruises into last eight, Medvedev sets up all-Russian QF tie
Don’t tell Dominic Thiem the US Open is diminished in any way just because it’s the first Grand Slam tournament since the 2004 French Open without at least one of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
“It doesn’t matter at all if the Big Three are here or not,” the No 2-seeded Thiem said on Monday after beating No 15 Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
“Everybody wants their hands on the trophy,” said Thiem, who won almost half of Auger-Aliassime’s service points, 46 of 88.
“It doesn’t really matter who they’re going to beat.”
Djokovic — seeded No 1, unbeaten this season and the overwhelming favorite — was disqualified on Sunday after unintentionally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball after dropping a game in the first set against Pablo Carreño Busta.
Nadal (pandemic concerns) and Federer (two knee operations) did not enter the tournament at all.
This ends a run of 13 consecutive major championships won by a member of the Big Three.
“It’s been getting pretty boring,” said Denis Shapovalov, the first Canadian man to reach the US Open quarterfinals, “with these three guys winning every tournament.”
None of the men left has ever earned so much as one Slam trophy yet.
The quarterfinals on the bottom half of the draw will be Thiem against No 21 Alex de Minaur; and No 10 Andrey Rublev against No 3 Daniil Medvedev. On the top half, where Djokovic used to loom: No 12 Shapovalov vs No 20 Carreño Busta; No 5 Alexander Zverev vs No 27 Borna Coric.
Medvedev was runner-up to Nadal last year, losing in five sets. He hasn’t dropped a set while advancing to the quarterfinals and he’s dropped serve only three times.
“I’m playing better every match,” Medvedev said. “I hope this can continue. I’m pleased, actually, with the fact I’ve won all the sets.”
Thiem is the only remaining man who has contested multiple major finals. He is 0-3, losing twice to Nadal at the French Open and to Djokovic at the Australian Open this February.
“I am probably one of the oldest players left in the field,” said the 27-year-old Thiem, “which is surreal to me.”
Second oldest, actually: Carreño Busta is 29.
It’s the first US Open since 2010 without at least one male quarterfinalist who is 30 or older.
Next up for Thiem is the 21-year-old de Minaur, who reached his first major quarterfinal by saving four set points in the opening tiebreaker and going on to a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 victory over Vasek Pospisil.
Pospisil led 6-2 in the tiebreaker when it all fell apart.
“The momentum definitely changed after that,” de Minaur said. Pospisil, who is 30, praised his younger opponent’s court coverage, saying he thinks de Minaur might be the second-fastest player on tour.
“What’s most impressive is he never breathes. He runs side to side and he's never out of breath,” Pospisil said. “He defies the laws of biology, I guess. He's a freak of nature.”