NEW YORK, ⁠Aug 30 (Reuters) - Former champion Daniil Medvedev made light work of ⁠France's Hugo Gaston 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Sunday, exorcising the ‌demons of his ill-fated campaign a year agowith an aggressive performance at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

A frequent - and gleeful - villain at the tournament he won in 2021, Medvedev crashed ​out in the opening round in 2025 ⁠but was all business this ⁠time around with 34 winners against just 11 from his opponent.

"You need ⁠to ‌play your game - I knew he was going to do some drop shots, some underarm serves," said Medvedev. "I needed to ⁠make some winners, put some pressure on him."

Gaston's ​creative shotmaking had little ‌impact on the nimble-footed, six-foot six-inch Medvedev, and the Frenchman ⁠did himself ​no favours as he handed his opponent the break with a misplaced backhand in the seventh game.

The seventh seed upped his level in the second ⁠set, where the Frenchman gifted him the ​break in the third game when he whacked a forehand into the net.

Medvedev held onto the momentum from there, leaping into the air to hit ⁠a superbly placed backhand shot out of Gaston's reach on break point in the seventh.

Only days after publicly pondering a career in pickleball after his opening-match defeat at Winston-Salem, the mercurial Russian converted another ​break-point chance in the opening game of the ⁠third when he whipped a forehand past the Frenchman.

He closed it out ​with an unreturnable serve and will play ‌the winner of a match later ​on Sunday between American wildcard Sebastian Gorzny and Belgian Raphael Collignon.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)