Medvedev storms into third round, Murray overcomes Nava

World No 1 Daniil Medvedev maintained his strong start to his US Open title defence on Wednesday, dispatching France's Arthur Rinderknech 6-2 7-5 6-3 in the Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the third round.

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. Russian 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.

Medvedev capitalised on several unforced errors from Rinderknech to easily clinch the opening set and though he faced greater resistance from the world No 58 in the second, he was able to break through and prevent a tiebreak. The 26-year-old 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 10 minutes.

Awaiting Medvedev in the third round will be Wu Yibing, who became the first Chinese man to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows after beating fellow qualifier Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 6-4 6-4.

Former world No 1 Andy Murray survived an early scare to beat American wild card Emilio Nava 5-7 6-3 6-1 6-0 to move into the third round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in five years.

Murray's victory also marked the first time since 2016 that he had reached the third round at Flushing Meadows, where he won his maiden Grand Slam title a decade ago. The Scot has been attempting to revive his career since hip surgeries threatened to bring it to a premature end and the 35-year-old has shown glimpses of getting back to his best in the first two rounds, dropping only one set so far.

“Physically this is the best I've felt in years. I'm getting closer to where I want to be. Hopefully I can have a deep run here,” Murray said in an on-court interview.

Nava is ranked 203 in the world but the 20-year-old, who knocked out John Millman in the first round, showed he belonged further up the ladder with his confident shot-making, winning the big points to take a gruelling first set in 84 minutes.

Murray struggled with his first serve but is always happy to graft in Grand Slams, and broke the inexperienced Nava twice in the second set to level the match after the American made several unforced errors. That fuelled Murray as he suddenly found his range on serve, tearing through the third set as Nava failed to sustain his levels from the opener and began to fade, giving the resolute Scot the advantage.

With Nava on the ropes, Murray was ruthless with two early breaks to go 4-0 up. Nava nearly got on the board in the fifth game but Murray stood firm to break again before serving out the set.

Murray meets 13th seed Matteo Berrettini next, who beat him in the final of the Stuttgart Open in June. The Italian also dropped the opening set before fighting back to beat Hugo Grenier 2-6 6-1 7-6(4) 7-6(7).