Medvedev into U.S. Open semis Daniil Medvedev defeated Andrey Rublev 7-6(6), 6-3, 7-6(5) to reach the US Open semifinals where he will face Dominic Thiem. "Experience plays a big role," Medvedev said. "The fact that I was already one time in U.S. Open semi-final helps a lot. Same court, same conditions, no crowd. And I think it will help me a little bit." After reaching the semis without losing a set, the third-seeded Russian is now bookmakers' favourite to claim his maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday. "That helps a lot in the long term of the tournament," he said of playing three-set matches. "So I'm happy about it. That's why physically I'm quite good. "The more matches you play, the more it helps to get into it, to get back to feeling it. So I think I'm 100% ready." He brushed aside concerns over his shoulder after he needed medical attention on it late in the third set against Rublev, saying it was just tiredness and cramp. Medvedev has been playing Rublev since they were in under-10 tournaments so the quarter-final was a good opportunity to assess how his game was working. He was delighted with his serve after facing not a single break point over the 2 1/2 hour contest but even more impressed that he had hit more than twice the number of winners than Rublev (51-23). "I was making a lot of winners which is amazing when we play with Rublev," he added. "That I had more winners than him, it's something unbelievable for me." “It was tough at the end,” said Medvedev. “Maybe the first time in almost a year I celebrated my win because it was very tough at the end. I felt like I could get in trouble, so I was really happy to get the win in the tie-break. One point decided two sets, so it was a really tough match.”