Jannik Sinner recovers to beat Tommy Paul and set up Daniil Medvedev showdown

Two hours into a high-quality fourth-round battle at the US Open on Monday night, the second set of Jannik Sinner’s duel with Tommy Paul was still undecided. After the crushing blow of surrendering an extremely tight first set, Paul fought back admirably to force a second tiebreak with a series of bold shots and confident lunges at the net. The No. 14 took a narrow 5-4 lead and was two points away from leveling the match with one set down.

The critical points are where the world’s best players so often separate themselves from the rest, and on Arthur Ashe Stadium they marked the difference between the two. After Paul missed two consecutive backhand second serve returns from 5-4 down in the tiebreak, Sinner jumped on the first set point without hesitation, lasering in a brilliant forehand return that would give him a two-set lead.

Sinner took the lead at all decisive moments and delivered a performance worthy of a world number 1. He advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over Paul.

“I always get more enthusiastic when [I] “Major points, major moments,” Sinner said of his clutch play. “In my mind, this is what we practice for. This is why you do repetition on the practice courts, and where you feel more secure, where you might need to change [a] a few things that try to surprise him. You have to serve a little bit smarter. In the tiebreak of the second set I didn’t serve so well, but I try to find a solution somehow.”

In a draw that has been wide open since the early surprises of second and third seeds Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner once again underlined his qualities as a favourite to win his second Grand Slam title of the year. However, this draw is extremely lopsided. The Italian now faces the only other Grand Slam champion in the draw, Daniil Medvedev, who is also the only remaining former US Open champion. Medvedev looked in imperious form earlier on Monday when he defeated Nuno Borges 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

Throughout this year, Sinner has played with a level of consistency that no male player, except Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, has achieved in recent years. Sinner’s record in 2024 now stands at 52-5 (91%) and he is 32-2 (94%) on hard courts. According to Opta, he is the second-youngest player in history to reach the quarterfinals in each of his first 12 tournaments of the year.

This latest test comes two weeks after Sinner and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that the Italian had failed two doping tests for the banned substance clostebol. An independent court subsequently ruled that Sinner was not at fault or negligent for the positive test.

Sinner successfully argued that the positive tests were the result of contamination when his physical therapist treated a cut on his finger with an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol, and then inadvertently transferred it to Sinner through his daily massage treatments. The 23-year-old had been able to successfully have the automatic provisional suspension lifted, meaning he could continue to compete for five months without his positive test being made public.

It was Paul who set the tone in the fourth round, his all-court game in full swing from the start as he threw forehands, swung at the net and took a 4-1 lead in the first set with two breaks. Sinner looked sluggish for most of the set but his level quickly rose and he dragged himself back into the match by forcing himself inside the baseline and dominating the exchanges with his much greater pace and weight of shot. In the tiebreak Sinner smothered Paul with his greater weaponry as he took out the first set.

Paul immediately shook off the disappointment of losing the first set and held his serve brilliantly throughout the second set. When they met in the second set tiebreak, Paul played some of his best tennis of the night to take a 5-4 lead. The course of the match was decided by just three service returns, as Paul missed two backhand returns and Sinner then holed a forehand return on set point, allowing him to clear an easy forehand.

After building a two-set lead, Sinner cruised through the third set to return to the US Open quarterfinals for the third time in his career. “The margins were very close,” Paul said. “For me, that’s motivation. Obviously, we’ve got two Americans left in the tournament, but it’s never really felt this open, in a way.”

Elsewhere, Iga Świątek continued to build momentum in the top half of the draw as she returned to the quarter-finals with an efficient 6-4, 6-0 victory over 16th seed Ludmilla Samsonova. The victory for the women’s world number one sets up a thrilling quarter-final clash with Jessica Pegula.

Pegula continued her summer revival by beating Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-2. The fifth seed has now reached seven Grand Slam quarterfinals but is still seeking her first major semifinal. To break new ground, she will need to beat the best player in the world.