Jannik Sinner was clutch when he needed it, getting past American Tommy Paul to advance to the US Open quarterfinals 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-1 on Monday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The world No. 1 from Italy, who came back from two breaks down in the opening set, extends his match win streak to eight and has equaled his best result at the US Open, having reached the quarterfinals in 2022.
Sinner, 23, became the eighth men’s singles player since 2000 to reach at least the quarterfinals in all four grand slam events in a calendar year.
“I felt like we both didn’t play our best tennis,” Sinner said in his on-court interview after his win against Paul, the No. 14 seed.
“It was a little breezy, a little windy, so we tried to find our rhythm a little bit. I found it a little bit at the end of the match, but I can be very proud today. It was a tough opponent, so I’m very happy to be in the next round.”
Sinner’s win sets up a blockbuster quarterfinal in New York with the 2021 US Open champion, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges earlier in the day 6-0, 6-1, 6-3.
That upcoming Wednesday matchup has the feel of a final, with Sinner and Medvedev the only two major champions remaining in the men’s singles draw.
“Tough match. It’s going to be a lot of rallies, so hopefully [I’ll] be ready physically,” Sinner said on court about facing the Russian. “It’s going to be physical match, also mental match.”
Medvedev leads Sinner in their career head-to-head matches at 7-5. Sinner, however, has won five of the last six, including coming back from two sets to love down to win his first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January.
Medvedev won their most recent meeting, a five-setter in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July.
“I will try to think more about Wimbledon than Australian Open,” said a smiling Medvedev, who spoke to reporters before Sinner’s night match with Paul.
“But against Jannik, we had some tough matches except a couple. … I feel like in a way we know our game, what we will try to bring on the table, and then it comes to always, you know, this moment’s deuce, break point, maybe try to surprise him or not, what he will do, what I will do.
“Hopefully, yeah, if it’s him who wins against Tommy, hopefully we can have a great match. I know if I want to beat him, I need to be at my best, which I managed to do couple of times. It’s going to be a great match.”
Sinner has taken part in an epic US Open quarterfinal before – and it was the latest finish of a match in the tournament’s history. In 2022, the Italian had a match point in the fourth set against Carlos Alcaraz. But after a five-hour, 15-minute marathon that ended at 2:50 a.m. ET, it was Alcaraz who moved on 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3. The Spaniard went on to win his first grand slam title at age 19.
Sinner fights back from two breaks down
Paul pushed Sinner early on Monday night.
The 27-year-old American fired up the New York crowd when he managed to break Sinner 13 minutes into the match, and in a stretch of winning 11 points in a row, he took a 4-1 lead in the first set.
But the 2024 Australian Open champion fought back from the two breaks down – quickly winning 12 of the next 14 points and the next four games in a row, before pulling away from Paul in the first-set tiebreak.
The second set, meanwhile, was tighter, with Paul saving the lone break point. But Sinner once again delivered in the tiebreaker.
The world No. 1 grabbed the early break in the second game of the third set with a scorching crosscourt forehand winner Paul couldn’t reach, with Sinner hitting far beyond the baseline.
“I don’t think he played very well to start the match, and then once I got up 4-1, I don’t think I started playing very well,” Paul told reporters. “I had opportunities there in the first set obviously, and then opportunities in the second, but he stepped up on the big points and I didn’t. I felt like that was kind of the story of the match.”
In other men’s singles action Monday, Great Britain’s Jack Draper continued his tear through the draw with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win against Czech Tomáš Macháč, reaching his first major quarterfinal. He has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
Meanwhile, in a battle between two Australians, No. 10 Alex de Minaur – in his first tournament since Wimbledon – bested Jordan Thompson 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Rafael Nadal lends support to Sinner
Sinner’s run comes against the backdrop of his recent doping case that became public knowledge on August 20 – news that shocked the tennis world. Sinner, who avoided suspension after twice testing positive for trace amounts of a banned substance, has said he hasn’t done anything wrong.
One prominent player who has recently backed Sinner is Rafael Nadal, telling Spanish television show “El Hormiguero” in an interview: “I have a virtue or a flaw, which is that in the end, I usually believe in the good faith of people.
“I know Sinner. I don’t believe that Sinner in any case was trying to dope. Also, another thing, in the end justice is justice, and I don’t think that we should only like justice, only when things are resolved in a manner that we agree with.
“In the end, justice is justice, and I believe in justice, and I believe in the bodies that have to make the decisions and that they truly make them based on what they believe is right.
“I trust that he wasn’t sanctioned because those who judged this case determined quite clearly that there was nothing to sanction. In this case, they’ve seen very clearly that what was presented wasn’t sanctionable.
“I don’t think that just because it is Sinner, they wouldn’t sanction him, or that because it’s someone else they would. I believe that and am convinced of it. Of course, the opinions of others are also totally respectable, but, well, this is my opinion.”
CNN’s Homero De la Fuente contributed reporting.
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