Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios stay on track for fourth round showdown at US Open

Daniil Medvedev continued his strong start to his US Open title defence after a routine second-round win over France's Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday.

After an inconsistent run-up to Flushing Meadows, Medvedev gained momentum after his straight-sets win over Stefan Kozlov in the first round on Monday and picked up where he left off against Rinderknech.

"In general, I'm happy with my level in the third set," Medvedev, 26, told reporters. "At the end of the match it was getting better and better.

"At the same time, a win is the most important. Try to get out as early as possible even if it is pretty late. Looking forward to the next round."

Medvedev frustrated Rinderknech with his flawless shot placement and pounced on the Frenchman's serve to keep him pinned back on the baseline, while also saving all three break points he faced as he controlled the contest from the start.

The Russian capitalised on several unforced errors from Rinderknech to easily clinch the opening set and although he faced greater resistance from the world number 58 in the second, he was able to break through and prevent a tiebreak.

Medvedev dictated play with penetrating groundstrokes and got the crucial break in the third set by claiming the fifth game, before racing to victory in two hours and 11 minutes as the clock ticked past midnight in New York.

"It's not so easy to play when you start at 10pm," said Medvedev, whose match began after Serena Williams beat Anett Kontaveit in three sets. "I had some experience, so I was ready. I tried to find a way to play my best tennis. That's for sure what happened in the first set."

"Arthur was a little bit slow, made some double faults and some unforced errors. Then