NEW YORK, Sept 10 — Third seed Daniil Medvedev continued his march towards a first Grand Slam title on Wednesday powering into the US Open semi-finals with a clinical 7-6(6) 6-3 7-6(5) victory over childhood friend Andrey Rublev.

The first Russian duo in the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam since Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko at Roland Garros in 2007, Medvedev showed no hesitation during a ruthless, controlled display that sends him through to the last four without dropping a set.

No player in the Open Era has won the US Open men’s title without dropping a set.

With Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal missing, and top seed Novak Djokovic having been disqualified for hitting a line judge with a ball, Medvedev showed why he is now the bookmakers’ favourite to win in New York.

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The third seed never gave Rublev a break chance in the entire match while hammering down 16 aces.

Medvedev, who lost an epic five-setter to Nadal in last year’s final, will now await the winner between second seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem and Australian Alex de Minaur. — Reuters