We’re walking on eggshells.

Given the season Medvedev is having, you never know whether you can trust him or if he’s going to throw in a bad match. For now, his start to the tournament is perfect, but I feel like at the slightest drop in focus, he could serve us some crap again.

Another three-set victory for Medvedev, who is currently perfect, but hasn't played against any top players. Rinderknech was supposed to be a good test for him, but the Frenchman was far too tired and played his worst match of the tournament. This gave Daniil a quick win, yet again, even though I must admit I don't think he's perfect at all. He's still making double faults, lacks consistency from the baseline, and I have a feeling he's close to making mistakes at some point, and that there would be no comeback. The thing is, we're in a tournament where he's always playing well, or at least almost always, and he's getting stronger. This very long format can also allow him to have dips in form before bouncing back. In short, he's allowed to be imperfect here.

Finally, an easy match for Tiafoe against Vacherot, and the American must be pleased because he'd already struggled in the first two rounds. He played like a boss and was quite inspired on the return, something he sometimes manages before usually falling back into that pattern. He's another beast at Grand Slams, especially at the US Open. I think he's in good form at the moment, and even if the matchup isn't easy to navigate, I think it's a pretty decent draw for him. Medvedev leads 6-2 against him, but he hasn't been the best version of himself for a long time now, and Tiafoe is in good shape.

What I dislike about the American is that excellent servers can follow up to the net and pressure him. This isn't really the case with Medvedev, who I think has lost some of his serve quality and is quite passive from the baseline most of the time. We've seen that this combination, which I could compare to Vacherot's in some ways, doesn't really bother Tiafoe. And for me, Vacherot serves much better than Daniil. We also mustn't forget that mentally, Medvedev can falter at the slightest problem, and he's playing against a local player who will get the crowd fired up as soon as possible. I can easily imagine Medvedev losing his composure, making double faults, and falling back into his old habits, because it's in his blood.