By Richard Kent, Staff Reporter

FLUSHING, NY — Many say that he has never lived up to his raw potential. John McEnroe says that “the guy has got one of the greatest serves in the history of tennis.” That’s Australian Nick Kyrgios in a nutshell.

Kyrgios knocked off No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in just under 3 hours before a bedazzled sold-out crowd on Sunday.

It was his second victory over world No. 1 in a month, having beaten him in Montreal in August.

No one doubts the prowess of Kyrgios and many now pick him to win the open after Rafael was defeated this afternoon.

Kyrgios is only the third player in tennis history to have beaten the big three: Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in his first match with each of them.

Kyrgios is the No. 23 seed in the Open, only because despite being a finalist at Wimbledon, did not receive any ATP points in response to the Wimbledon ban of Russian players.

The 27-year-old Kyrgios faces Karen Khachanov Tuesday night in a feature match. The two have split matches in their career, with Kyrgios winning the last at the 2020 Australian Open in five sets.