Impressive Medvedev into French Open last 16

Daniil Medvedev continued his impressive form as he picked apart Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the fourth round of the French Open without dropping set.

He found 42 winners on Court Suzanne Lenglen, including a forehand pass while on the move on match point.

The Russian faces France’s Gilles Simon or Croat Marin Cilic in the last 16.

“Before the match I never thought I could honestly win with this score,” Medvedev told the Tennis Channel. “I managed to do everything exceptionally well today. It’s rare to say after a match we can say how good we played.”

Much of the focus in the draw has been aimed at the top half, which includes defending champion Novak Djokovic, 13-time winner Rafael Nadal and in-form Carlos Alcaraz, and has duly taken scrutiny away from US Open winner Medvedev.

The 26-year-old could meet 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas at the semi-final stage.

“Medvedev is world number two and he is playing like that sort of ranking,” said 5 Live Sports Extra commentator David Law.

“He would still be behind others in the pecking order of favourites – Djokovic, Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz – but he doesn’t have to worry about them until the final.

“He might be the man who goes all the way to the final.”

Medvedev’s best run at Roland Garros was a quarter-final last year but he looks more at ease on clay – his least favourite surface – than ever before.

He had arrived at the French Open with only one match on clay under his belt after having a procedure to treat a hernia in April.

Here – against a highly capable opponent – he landed two breaks in the opening set and one in the second to open up a cushion.

By the third set he was finding drop shots and eye-catching angles, none more so than when he whipped a low forehand across court at 1-1.

Elsewhere in the lower half of the draw, seventh seed Andrey Rublev beat Cristian Garin 6-4 3-6 6-2 7-6 (13-11).

The 24-year-old Russian has not gone past the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam in his career to date.

He will get the chance to reach the last eight when he plays Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner – who beat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.