NEW YORK -- If there is going to be a shock in the men's event at this year's US Open -- and a shock would be anyone other than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer winning the title -- then it will probably be Daniil Medvedev, the man of the summer.

Three straight finals, ending in a first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati, have propelled the 23-year-old Russian into the world's top five and his quirky style of play, consistency, athleticism and pure confidence make him the most dangerous of opponents.

No one has won more matches than Medvedev this year. His first-round victory over India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran on Monday took his tally to 45, three more than the next-best, Nadal, followed by Federer (40) and Djokovic (39). He has won two titles this year, played an ATP Tour-high six finals and in Cincinnati, he knocked off Djokovic for good measure.

Having begun the year ranked No 16, he is the new leader of the Next Gen, the youngsters who are desperate to break the dominance of the Big Three, who between them have won a whopping 54 Grand Slam titles. This is new territory for Medvedev, but he is ready to make the next step.

"If I get to the quarterfinal, it's going to be already a step forward and I'm going to be really happy about it," he told reporters on the eve of the US Open. "But the three weeks I made really pushed a lot my confidence. Now I know that when I play my best tennis I can beat basically everybody, and that's what I need to keep doing here."

When he was 18, the Moscow-born Medvedev moved with his parents to Nice, where his sister was living. He speaks good French, which comes in handy with his French coach, Gilles Cervara. He likes a game of chess, even if he admits he does not have the patience for long matches, the irony being that he enjoys nothing more on the tennis court.

"I cannot say I am the strongest guy physically, but that's my style, I cannot change it," he told ESPN.com. "Part of my game is the consistency to not make unforced errors and make the guy miss before me, even if it's after 50 shots. When I am feeling good, that's where I am stronger."

"I never wanted to copy anyone," he added. "I loved watching [Andy] Murray and Djokovic, you can see right now my game is kind of like them. Of course, I am never at this level. But I picked up a lot of things watching them play against each other."

At 6-foot-6, he has a fine serve, and he moves so well he doesn't seem as tall as he is. What makes him stand out, though, is his ability to come up with the unexpected deep into a rally, especially on the backhand. And he's not afraid to try the unusual, as he showed Monday at Flushing Meadows, when he positioned himself almost in the doubles alley to serve on more than one occasion.

He has matured, too. This is a man who at Wimbledon 2017 threw coins at the umpire's chair, an outburst he could barely explain at the time and now admits was out of line.

Daniil Medvedev defeated Novak Djokovic on the way to winning his first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

"In real life, I am calm," he told ESPN.com in an interview this summer. "I can be more angry when, in my opinion, even if it's not true, there is some injustice going on. When you're in the game, you have a lot of adrenaline. [But\ I am not happy with what I did in Wimbledon."

This summer, though, he has dealt well with every bit of adversity he has faced. Now, when he loses his temper, he gets back on track immediately.

Medvedev is unique, but there is one thing that he shares with many of the Next Gen: his roots. Fellow top 10 player Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, who beat Federer in Cincinnati, are both Russian, like Medvedev. World No. 6 Alexander Zverev's parents are Russian. Stefanos Tsitsipas's grandfather was an Olympic gold medalist for the former Soviet Union and his mother, Julia, played in the Fed Cup for them. Denis Shapovalov's mother, Tessa, played tennis for Russia and both of Australian Alexei Popyrin's parents are Russian. Maybe it's the coaching. Maybe there's something in the water.

"I think it's kind of a coincidence," Khachanov told ESPN.com. "But it would be great if all of them would represent Russia. What a team that would be."

Medvedev's best Grand Slam performance so far was reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open in January, where he took Djokovic to four sets. If the seedings go to plan in New York, the pair would meet again in the last eight. But understanding best-of-five-set tennis is still a work in progress for Medvedev, who told ESPN.com he is unsure at times whether to give 100 percent throughout or save his energy on occasion. He would prefer best-of-three sets.

"I like best-of-three more," he said. "I just don't like best-of-five, it's so long, it's so physically demanding. That's just my opinion, I don't pretend this opinion to be true [with everyone] because I think 95 percent of the players think that slams should be five [sets]. If you ask me, I would say three."

In Melbourne this year, Medvedev and Djokovic had the crowd gasping and almost laughing at the length and quality of some of their rallies. The Russian may not have the sheer power of a Khachanov, for example, but he makes up for it in tennis smarts. As John McEnroe told an ESPN conference call, Medvedev's style makes life difficult for other players.

"People don't like playing him," McEnroe said. "He understands strategy and subtleties of the game better than almost any of the other younger players. I find him the most interesting mentally right now."