Sinner beats Paul to set up US Open showdown with Medvedev

NEW YORK – Top seed Jannik Sinner advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open after shaking off a slow start to win a tiebreak that decided the first two sets and then pulled away to beat 14th seed Tommy Paul 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1 on Monday night.

Two weeks after being cleared in a doping case stemming from two positive tests in March, Sinner moves into a showdown with 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, the only former Flushing Meadows winner still in the men’s draw.

Sinner, 23, claimed his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, beating Medvedev in five sets in the final after losing the first two matches. They also met in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July, with Medvedev winning that match.

“It will require a lot of running, so I hope I will be physically ready,” Sinner said.

Sinner was not at his best early on against Paul, trailing 4-1 after 20 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“This is where you want to be,” Paul said. “… It’s definitely different from anywhere else. It’s electric.”

As the match continued, chants of “USA!” or “Let’s go Tommy! Let’s go!” rang out. There were also several moments of applause after Sinner’s errors, prompting repeated reprimands from the chair umpire, who asked that there be no noise between the first and second serves.

Sinner ended the first set with 15 unforced errors on the forehand side alone, but he quickly corrected that and finished the match with just six errors in the rest of the match.

“It was a tough match,” Sinner said. “Obviously I think I can do better sometimes… but he’s a tough opponent. You have to admit he moves very well, he can vary the game. So I’m happy with the win.”

It all came down to a tiebreaker. The first set ended 3-3 before Sinner took the last four points. Paul led 5-4 in the second set, but Sinner took the last three points.

That means Sinner has now won 14 of his last 15 tiebreaks, dating back to Halle in Germany in June. The only exception was a loss to Medvedev at Wimbledon.

Sinner lost the first set he played at the US Open, but won 12 more sets.

Paul was trying to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in his career and his first at Flushing Meadows. He was also trying to become the first American to defeat a top-ranked player at the US Open since Andre Agassi upset Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.

Instead, Paul fell to 0-6 in major tournaments against players ranked in the top 10.

“I had some chances in the first set, then I had some chances in the second set,” Paul said. “But he came out on the big points, and I couldn’t. That was the story of the match.”

Sinner has set a new record of 32 hard-court titles in 2024 and has now reached at least the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slams this year.

Earlier on Monday, fifth seed Medvedev claimed a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 win over Nuno Borges, a win that was briefly interrupted early in the third set when the electronic line-calling system was shut down due to a fire alarm.

The other top-half men’s quarter-final will pit 10th seed Alex de Minaur against 25th seed Jack Draper. De Minaur beat Jordan Thompson 6-0 3-6 6-3 7-5 in an all-Australian contest, while Draper became the first British man to reach the US Open quarter-finals since Andy Murray in 2016 with a 6-3 6-1 6-2 win over Tomas Matszczak.

The men’s quarterfinals on Tuesday are fourth seed Alexander Zverev against 12th seed Taylor Fritz, and ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov against 20th seed Frances Tiafoe.

This report was informed by ESPN’s Cole Harvey and The Associated Press.