It was American Express day at the US Open on Monday but, by 9pm, by the time Jannik Sinner and Tommy Paul emerged into Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was turning into another night of American Excess.
The world No 1 has been pleasantly surprised by the reaction of fans in New York over the past week. They have been rather more forgiving than some of his peers – after Sinner escaped a ban despite failing two drugs test for a banned steroid.
In this fourth-round clash, however, Sinner was met by the American No 14 seed and a home crowd determined to squeeze every last drop out of this long Labor Day weekend.
They were rowdy and they were relentless. There were chants of ‘U-S-A’ and there were jokes about Sinner’s mishap on the massage table. It was electric and for two sets it was an intoxicating tussle.
The umpire struggled to keep a lid on it all. But the world No 1 would not be cowed in the face of 24,000 well-oiled supporters or one pumped up rival. Eventually, after nearly three hours, Sinner broke the resistance of Paul and brought this crowd to its feet one final time.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner came through a tough fourth-round clash against USA’s Tommy Paul
The No 14 seed had chances to win both of the first two sets but was reeled back in by Sinner
With this 7-6 7-6 6-1 win, he moves into the quarterfinals, where Daniil Medvedev lies in wait. Sinner beat the Russian to claim his first Grand Slam title in Australia earlier this year. With both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz already out, another win would put Sinner in pole position to win his maiden US Open title.
How different it could have been had Paul taken his chances. This was a brutal lesson in the importance of fine margins. The American was a double break up in set one and a mini-break up in the set-two tiebreak. Twice he surrendered the advantage and lost the set.
‘He stepped up on the big points and I didn’t. I felt like that the story of the match,’ Paul said.
So his hopes of becoming the first American man to win the US Open for 21 years are over. Over to you Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. They face their own enticing battles on Ashe on Tuesday and soon then they might face their own date with Sinner.
‘That’s where you want to be,’ Paul said of playing on Ashe at night. ‘It’s electric and walking out, I’m pretty nervous, obviously… it’s a pretty cool place to play tennis.’
Paul was a qualifier ranked No 437 in the world when, in 2015, he first played a main draw match at the US Open. He was just 18 and reached the boys’ singles final here that same year.
The American was an outstanding junior who won a boys’ Grand Slam and reached No 3 in the world. Sinner never climbed higher in the junior rankings than 133; during one 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 down in the first set to reach the US Open quarterfinals
For Paul, America’s No 14 seed, this was a brutal lesson in the importance of fine margins
These days, Sinner is worth avoiding and Paul succeeded for a while. Their paths had veered in different directions as Sinner mined every crumb of potential while Paul partied and threatened to waste his. They had never crossed at a Grand Slam. Until Monday night.
And the brutal reality for America’s No 14 seed? The absence of Djokovic and Alcaraz had opened up three quarters of this draw. Just not his.
Paul could at least ride the energy of this crowd. Huge cheers greeted the first point he won and the volume barely dipped from there.
No matter that the American stumbled out of the blocks and a slew of errors threatened to hand Sinner the initiative. Paul quickly settled and before long he had broken the world No 1 – not once but twice.
At 4-1, Paul was brimming with confidence and Sinner was starting to wobble. The American was bossing the exchanges and he had the chance to tighten his grip on this fourth-round clash. Instead, Sinner flipped the switch.
The Italian had to dig himself out of a hole against a home favorite in round one and here he turned the tide again – 4-1 became 4-4 and soon it was Paul’s turn to cling on.
Paul was cheered on by a raucous home crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night
The American showed guts to save a set a set point and then force a tie-break, only to watch it tilt the way of Sinner after a thunderous forehand helped him secure him the mini-break. Sinner held his nerve to edge a first set that had gripped Arthur Ashe for more than an hour.
The world No 1 had not been near his best – he had made 15 errors on his forehand alone. How easy it would have been, then, for Paul to lose heart after such a missed opportunity.
But the American, to his credit, kept chipping away. For 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 did eventually earn a shot at a break, only for Paul to hold and ratchet up the volume once more. Before long, we were back in another tie break. Before long, Paul had the upper hand once more. Again, though, Sinner reeled the American back in to take set two by a whisker.
That sparked a mass exodus from Ashe and sucked the life out of Paul, too. Sinner broke early in set three before cruising to victory – and sending this crowd home for a relatively early night.
