Daniil Medvedev reached the US Open semi-finals by beating Andrey Rublev in hot and humid conditions that he said would cause a player to “die”.

On Wednesday, the third seed beat his fellow Russian 6-4 6-3 6-4 despite appearing to struggle with his breathing.

“You are going to see one player die,” he said into a camera during the match.

Next, Medvedev faces Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

Alcaraz, 20, saw off five break points on his way to a comfortable win over the 12th seed from Germany.

On Friday, both men’s semi-finals will be held at Flushing Meadows.

A record-equaling 24th major title awaits Novak Djokovic when he faces young American Ben Shelton in the first match at 15:00 local time (20:00 BST).

Despite a heatwave sweeping New York, Medvedev and Rublev played under a partially closed roof on the hottest day of the tournament so far, with temperatures reaching about 35C.

In two hours and 48 minutes, Medvedev – who won the US Open in 2021 – finally ended the match after looking physically and emotionally exhausted before comparing the “brutal” conditions to the Tokyo Olympics’ weather.

In these conditions, he said, “the only good thing I see is that both of us suffer. It’s tough on both of us.”