Daniil Medvedev has continued his march towards a maiden grand slam title as he returned to the US Open semi-finals with a clinical victory over childhood friend Andrey Rublev.

In the first al-Russian quarter-final at a grand slam since Roland Garros in 2007, Medvedev showed no hesitation during a ruthless, controlled 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) display that sent him through to the last four without dropping a set.

He has not even dropped his serve in his five matches to date and did not face a break point in dispatching Rublev.

No player in the Open Era has won the New York major without dropping a set.

With Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal missing, and top seed Novak Djokovic having been disqualified for hitting a line judge with a ball, Medvedev showed why he is now the bookmakers’ favourite.

The third seed never gave Rublev a break chance in the entire match while hammering down 16 aces.

Medvedev also produced more than twice as many winners, 51-23.

He took a medical timeout in the third set to have a trainer massage his shoulder and he dealth with cramp but that was the only sign of any weakness in his game.

“It was tough and that was why maybe for the first time in almost a year I celebrated my win,” Medvedev, who let out a roar upon completing his win, said.

“I felt like I could get in trouble so I was really happy to get the win in the tiebreaker.

“One point decided two sets so it was a tough match and Andrey was playing unbelievable.”

The only other issue for Medvedev came in the opening set tiebreak when the match was briefly delayed by an electrical fault.

Medvedev, who lost an epic five-setter to Nadal in last year’s final, will play second-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem or Australian 21st seed Alex de Minaur on Friday for a spot in the decider.

The other men’s semi-final will pit German fifth seed Alexander Zverev against 20th-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

None of the remaining men in the draw have won a grand slam.