Sinner, Swiatek storm through to USO quarters

Jannik Sinner joined Iga Swiatek in crushing fourth round opponents the world No. 1 duo at the US Open swept into the quarter-finals on Monday.

Sinner got off to a slow start but quickly turned the tables on Tommy Paul, sending the American to defeat 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1. 

Swiatek dismantled Ludmilla Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 in 91 minutes to set up a showdown with sixth seed Jessica Pegula.

Sinner went down a pair of breaks at the start against Paul,  but recovered them both as he dealt with some problems with a wild forehand.

The Italian got all square at four games apiece before Paul saved a set point in the ninth game.

The set went into a decider, with Sinner taking it after 65 minutes on court.

The top seed moved through another tiebreak set. winning it as the match time passed two hours. Sinner took charge with a pair of breaks and snapped up the win on his first match point.

Sinner is the only player this season to book all four Grand Slam quarter-finals, winning his eighth consecutive match; he has equalled his best result in New York with his last eight showing.

The 23-year-old improved to 32-2 on hardcourts this season.

Sinner will play a quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev, who won their first six matches while the Italian swept the next five; that match is a repeat of January’s Australian open final won by Sinner.

Medvedev got him in their last match, a Wimbledon quarter-final.

“It will be a tough match,there will be a lot of rallies,” Sinner said of the quarter-final.

“Hopefully I’ll be ready physically. It’s gonna be a physical and mental match. 

“I won in Australia. He won in Wimbledon.. both in five sets. Hopefully it will be a good match. 

“We’ll try to do our best on court. Hopefully you guys enjoy it and we’ll see how it goes.” 

Swiatek was untroubled by Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 in a 91 minute win which set up a showdown with sixth seed Jessica Pegula.

That pair will meet for the 10th time, with Swiatek leading 6-3. Five-time major champion Swiatek broke Samsonova three times while never facing a break point herself as she reached the ninth Grand Slam quarter-final of her career..

She broke the match open at 4-all in the first set, winning eight of the next nine games to coast to the win.

The world No. 1 will be playing her first hardcourt quarter-final at a major since 2022 here.

She won 29 of 33 first serve points and produced 14 winners. 

“I’m really happy with my performance. At the beginning we kind of played, you
know, serve by serve,” Swiatek said.

“But I’m happy that I waited for the right moment and got my chance on the return game and broke.

“The second set I was just kind of pushing even more, with big confidence, so I’m happy with the score.”

The Pole who has not dropped a set during the New York fortnight knows that she will likely face her toughest test yet at the final major of the season.

“We played here two years ago. Playing against Jessica it’s never easy, she has a pretty tricky game style.” 

Swiatek and Pegula split their last four matches – all played in 2023 – with the pair going 2-2.