WHAT HAPPENED: Gael Monfils had lost the first two sets and was looking down and out, 0-4 in the fourth. The Frenchman appeared to be just minutes from the locker room and Jannik Sinner moments from the fourth round of the US Open.
Suddenly, Monfils captured six games in a row, galvanizing the capacity crowd in Louis Armstrong Stadium and unexpectedly extending the match to a deciding fifth set as fans roared their approval.
Sinner, just 20, had never previously been past the first round of the US Open. The young Italian could easily have retreated, shellshocked by the occasion, lost opportunities, and the flamboyant shotmaking of his French opponent.
Instead, Sinner held his nerve against a surging Monfils—navigating unpredictable swells of momentum—and mastered the moment. Sinner held on to win, withstanding a barrage of 61 winners from the Frenchman, in 3 hours, 42 minutes.
Sinner, the 13th seed, advanced to the fourth round of the US Open for the first time, 7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4. He will play the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, and Jack Sock.
“The atmosphere was insane,” said Sinner, rather diplomatically, on court after his victory.
“I had chances in the third. I had chances in the fourth. I didn’t manage to close it out, so I tried to stay there, and obviously I’m very happy,” said the Italian.
Monfils, a semifinalist in Flushing in 2016, served for the opening set, up 6-5, 30-love. Suddenly, disaster—or distraction—struck. Monfils played four poor points to let Sinner back into the set. The veteran lost all his mojo, and the youngster took advantage, storming through the tiebreak, 7-1.
Monfils couldn’t pull it together in the second set, either. Sinner’s game began to coalesce behind his resolute forehand, and he breezed through the second set, playing clean, consistent tennis against an opponent who was doing exactly the opposite.
Monfils captured the third set, lasering forehand winners and racing around the court, trying to find a way back into the match and rile up the crowd. After ripping a wicked two-handed backhand up the line to claim the set, Monfil stood motionless on the baseline, gazing into the stands with his arms akimbo, pleading with the electrified stadium to continue to lift him up.
After surrendering six straight games to lose the fourth set and wobble into the fifth, Sinner went back to business. The Italian held on to a single-break advantage and closed the door on Monfils while opening a new one: a berth in the fourth round at the US Open, for himself.
“I like playing best-of five, to be honest,” said Sinner. “Maybe it’s better to close it out a little bit earlier, but it’s a great feeling. You have some tough moments, you have to go through them.”
“In the important moments, you try to play your best tennis,” said the Italian.
WHAT IT MEANS: The match was a test of resolve and maturity for the relatively inexperienced Sinner. The youngster battled not just the Frenchman, a two-time Slam semifinalist, but also a decidedly pro-Monfils crowd. Although it was a lot to ask of someone who only three weeks ago was still a teen, Sinner took everything that was thrown at him on Saturday afternoon.
The 13th seed is now 33-16 on the year, and 23-8 on hard courts. Unranked in 2018, Sinner is now up to No. 16 and has three singles titles under his belt. As a 19-year-old he reached the quarterfinal of the French Open on his first try, but before this year, the young Italian had never been past the first round in Flushing Meadows.
MATCH POINT: Sinner is one of two Italians to make the fourth round at the 2021 US Open, the other being No. 6 Matteo Berrettini, who needed five sets to advance earlier today.
