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Medvedev, the 2021 Flushing Meadows champion,
reached the last eight with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 victory over
Australian Alex de Minaur and set up a meeting with Rublev who
won 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 against Briton Jack Draper on Monday.
The Russian duo have previously met seven times at the elite
level, with Medvedev winning five matches including their latest
encounter in the Dubai final this year.
"We're really close friends," Medvedev said. "We have a great
relationship, even if on the court we're big competitors, so I
do think one match, I say a fight, we can talk. Nothing is going
to come between us to separate us in real life.
"We're really close. I mean, we share a lot of interests. It's
great to have someone like this on tour because sometimes it
isn't easy. You travel, travel, travel.
"To have a friend like this is great. But, again, on the court
we both want to win."
Rublev said the friendship had become like a family bond after
he was asked to be the godfather to Medvedev's daughter.
"We built our relationship because of tennis, but now it's
already bigger than tennis. We know each other, I don't know,
since we were maybe six or something," Rublev said.
"He's super honest, super relaxed. It's easy to communicate with
him. He's very humble. At the same time, he's really funny. When
you spend time with him, you always have fun."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken
Ferris)
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