[Source: Reuters]

Daniil Medvedev said he was enjoying his growing rivalry with world number one Jannik Sinner despite coming out on the wrong end of the scoreline in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

The Russian has now played his 23-year-old rival four times this year, also losing in the Australian Open final and the semi-finals of the Miami Masters but triumphing in the last eight at Wimbledon.

Medvedev still leads their head-to-head 7-6, although the Italian Sinner has won six of their last seven meetings.

Medvedev said he thought an Australian Open final, reaching the fourth round of the French Open, the semis at Wimbledon and the last eight at Flushing Meadows meant he had enjoyed a “quite good” year at the Grand Slams.

The 28-year-old, whose 2021 U.S. Open victory remains his only major title, said he would continue to work hard to close the gap with the best players in the game, even if their names had changed since the start of his career.