QUEENS, NY – For many, it was the anticipated final of the US Open. We will know that by Sunday. But the truth is that Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev provided some very high-level tennis in the two hours and 29 minutes of their quarterfinal match. The Italian, world number one, advanced at the expense of the Russian with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 and 6-4 that was more balanced than the score would suggest.
It was a duel of strikers, between two players as lanky as they are fast, who dominate the game from the baseline like almost no one else. They reach everything and return almost everything, mostly licking the lines. The clash was a game of chess in which one took the advantage and the other responded by adjusting their game to regain ground.
It was also a duel between two of the coldest players on tour. They rarely address the crowd or celebrate a point effusively. Evenings at Arthur Ashe, with honey duce cocktails flowing through the stands, call for something else. But they were doing their thing, not looking at each other when they crossed paths during breaks.
Sinner, 23, and Medvedev, 28, had played the Australian Open final and Wimbledon quarter-finals this year, both five-set matches. The Italian won in Melbourne to claim his only “major” tournament so far. This evening he also took revenge for the previous clash in London.
“We know each other very well. We played each other in Australia this year, then in London… We knew it could be a very physical match,” said Sinner, still on the court after the match.
With this victory, Sinner has won 21 Grand Slam matches this year, more than anyone else. He also becomes the third Italian to reach the semi-final in New York in the Open Era after Barazzutti in 1977 and Berrettini in 2019.
A game of comings and goings
Medvedev started off erratic with his serve, committing two double faults in the first game of the match and then losing a break in the third. Meanwhile, Sinner won his service games more comfortably, forcing the Russian to play at the back of the court, with no attacking options. A second break in the seventh game left the first set in sight.
Medvedev needed a change in his game and he found it. More aggressive, he combined approaches to the net with some drop shots, a trick he does not usually use. He quickly managed to get a break and tilt the second set in his favour.
There were some bright spots, long exchanges that achieved the impossible: silencing Arthur Ashe – or almost. It was the best set, it is more equal, even if it doesn’t seem that way from the score.
Then, when he seemed to be beaten, the best Sinner reacted, winning 5 games in a row to fly to the third set. Nothing was going well for the Russian, while the Italian’s ball did nothing but caress the lines.
The fourth set was once again a tight one. Medvedev, who was playing better, dominating most of the points, missed the first two break points of the set in the sixth game. As often happens, the missed opportunities took their toll. He lost his serve in the next game and created an uphill battle that he was unable to overcome.
An American in the final
Sinner will play Friday’s semi-final against 22-year-old Englishman Jack Draper, who by beating Alex de Minaur became the first Briton to reach the last four at the US Open since Andy Murray won in 2012. Draper has not dropped a set throughout the tournament.
The other semi-final between Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will see an American challenge for the title on Sunday for the first time since Andy Roddick faced Roger Federer in the 2006 final.
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