Tennis-Last US Open champion standing Medvedev moves past Cobolli

NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev breezed past Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-3 6-4 6-3 and into the fourth round on a muggy Saturday at the U.S. Open as the 2021 champion stepped up his bid to capture a second Grand Slam title.

The Russian, who is the only former New York champion left in the men's draw following the stunning exits of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in the first week, was pleased to avoid the U.S. Open trapdoor.

"I said it before the match that to me upsets don't really matter. The conditions are a bit tricky," Medvedev said.

"The favourites maybe have less margin against the other guys. Just have to be more cautious. If I play good tennis I can win the whole thing.

"If I don't play good I can lose against anyone. I just have to play my best and try to win."

In a clash marked by long, exhausting rallies, Cobolli tested Medvedev's defence thoroughly but could find a way past the man the "Octopus" for his ability to move freely on court and reach every ball.

Having taken the opening set on the back of two breaks after dropping serve early, Australian Open runner-up Medvedev edged a close second set to tighten his grip on the contest.

Both players struggled on serve in the third set and handed out breaks freely but Medvedev composed himself to close out the victory and book a clash with Portuguese Nuno Borges.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)

((Shrivathsa.Sridhar@thomsonreuters.com;))