Monday was American Express Day at the US Open, but by 9 p.m., when Jannik Sinner and Tommy Paul appeared on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was turning into another night of American excess.
The world number one has been pleasantly surprised by the reaction of New York fans over the past week, who have been considerably more forgiving than some of his peers after Sinner escaped suspension despite failing two drugs tests for a banned steroid.
In this fourth-round clash, however, Sinner faced the American No. 14 seed and a home crowd determined to squeeze every last drop out of this long Labor Day weekend.
They were loud and relentless. There were chants of “US-A” and jokes about Sinner’s accident on the massage table. It was electrifying and for two sets it was a heady brawl.
The referee had to work hard to keep things under control, but the world number one was undaunted by 24,000 well-oiled fans and an enthusiastic opponent. Finally, after almost three hours, Sinner broke Paul’s resistance and brought the crowd to its feet one last time.
World number one Jannik Sinner has come through a tough fourth-round clash against American Tommy Paul.
The 14th seed had chances to win the first two sets, but Sinner stopped him.
With this 7-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory, Sinner is now in the quarter-finals, where he will face Daniil Medvedev. Sinner beat the Russian to claim his first Grand Slam title in Australia earlier this year. With Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz already out, another win would put Sinner in pole position to win his first US Open title.
How different it could have been if Paul had taken his chances. This was a brutal lesson in the importance of fine margins. The American was a double break ahead in the first set and a mini-break ahead in the second set tiebreak. On two occasions he gave up the advantage and lost the set.
So your hopes of becoming the first American to win the US Open in 21 years are over. Now it’s up to you, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. You’ll face your own enticing battles in Ashe on Tuesday and could soon face your own date with Sinner.
Paul was ranked 437th in the world when he played his first main draw match at the US Open in 2015. He was just 18 years old and reached the men’s singles final there that same year.
The American was an exceptional junior player who won a men’s Grand Slam and reached a world ranking of third. Sinner never rose higher than 133rd in the junior rankings; during an under-18 doubles match against Jack Draper, the Italian was targeted by his opponents. He was the weak link.
Sinner recovered from a double break in the first set to reach the US Open quarterfinals
For Paul, the US 14th seed, this was a brutal lesson in the importance of fine margins.
These days, Sinner is worth avoiding and Paul had success for a while. Their paths had taken different directions, with Sinner exploiting every shred of potential while Paul had fun and threatened to squander his. They had never crossed paths at a Grand Slam. Until Monday night.
And what was the brutal reality for the American No. 14 seed? The absence of Djokovic and Alcaraz had opened up three-quarters of this draw. But not his.
Paul was at least able to harness the energy of this crowd. Huge cheers greeted him when he won his first point and the volume barely dropped from there.
It didn’t matter that the American struggled early on and a series of errors threatened to hand the initiative to Sinner. Paul settled in quickly and before long he had beaten the world number one, not once, but twice.
At 4-1, Paul was brimming with confidence and Sinner was beginning to falter. The American was dominating the exchanges and had the chance to reinforce his dominance in this fourth-round clash. Instead, Sinner turned the tide.
The Italian had to fight his way out of a tight spot against the home favourite in the first round and here he turned the tide again: 4-1 became 4-4 and it was soon Paul’s turn to hold on.
Paul was cheered on by a raucous home crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night.
The American showed grit to save a set and then force a tie-break, but then saw the tide turn in Sinner’s favour after a powerful forehand winner helped him clinch the mini-break. Sinner kept his cool to win a first set that had trapped Arthur Ashe for more than an hour.
The world number one had not been anywhere near his best, having made 15 errors with his forehand alone. How easy it would have been, then, for Paul to become disheartened after such a missed opportunity.
But the American, to his credit, kept gaining ground. Over 10 games, the second set could hardly have been more different than the first: neither player came close to losing their serve.
At 5-5, Sinner finally had a chance to break serve, but Paul managed to keep control and turn up the volume once again. Before long, we were back in another tie break. Shortly after, Paul took the lead once again. However, once again, Sinner regained control of the American and took the second set just narrowly.
That sparked a mass exodus from Ashe and also took the life out of Paul. Sinner broke serve early in the third set before winning easily and sending the crowd home for a relatively early night.