Wednesday 27 / November / 2024
New York: The world number one Jannik Sinner set up a quarterfinal clash with Daniil Medvedev following a win over local favourite Tommy Paul at the ongoing US Open on Tuesday.
The world number one and current Australian Open champion battled past Paul 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-1. Though he was made to work hard for his points and battled from two breaks down in set one, Sinner displayed some stunning shotmaking and baseline power.
Now, Sinner has also accomplished the rare feat of reaching the quarterfinals in at least of all four Grand Slam events in a season. He has become the eighth men's singles player since 2000 to achieve this feat and has joined the elite company of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka and Andre Agassi. Djokovic has achived this feat a total of eight times, as per ATP.
Following the match, he was quoted as saying by ATP website, "It is a huge honour to play on this court here. The evening session is always very, very nice. Thanks everyone for the support, it is amazing. I thought that we both did not play our best tennis. 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 was a tough opponent, so I am very happy to be in the next round."
Sinner and Medvedev recently clashed in Wimbledon QFs this year, where Medvedev won in five sets and took a 7-5 lead in the rivalry. Sinner had also defeated Medvedev to secure the Australian Open title.
Medvedev, the fifth seed and 2021 US Open champion continued his 2024 campaign with a win over Nuno Borges by 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 in a one hour, 51 minute clash. The Russian was in control for the majority of the clash, except when he trailed by a break early in set one. Since 2018, Medvedev has scored 268 wins at hard courts, more tour-level wins than any other player. His nearest rival is Andrey Rublev with 210 wins.
Medvedev has also secured wins in all three ATP Head to Head meetings with Borges, having won against him in Australian Open and in Halle this year.
Alex de Minaur secured his third successive quarterfinal in a major competition on Monday, beating fellow Australian Jordan Thompson 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the round of 16 clash. The 10th seed was in command since the start and was agile enough to track down drop volleys and flat Thompson groundstrokes in the two hour, 57 minute clash.
With his 40th tour-level win this year, Alex has surpassed Djokovic in the seventh place of the ATP Live Race to Turin. The 25-year-old has enjoyed a fine year, with QF finishes in French Open and Wimbledon and title wins in Acapulco and 's-Hertogenbosch. He is targeting a first-time qualification to the ATP Finals.
His opponent will be Jack Draper, who reached his first major QF ever by defeating Czech's Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
