WHAT HAPPENED: When Jannik Sinner was up a set and an early break in the second, a trip to the quarterfinals at the US Open appeared to be smooth sailing. That also was the moment when Sinner’s serve let him down and his opponent took advantage. With that, the wheels were in motion for another late-night thriller at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Sinner was pushed to the brink before ending the match on fire, winning the final five games. He outlasted the unseeded Ilya Ivashka, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a three-hour, 48-minute thriller that ended at a minute past midnight.
Fans at Louis Armstrong were treated to a baseline slugfest all night long. When Ivaska broke Sinner to open up a 3-1 lead in the fifth, they thought they'd see a upset: Instead, they witnessed something close to wizardry, as Sinner won 19 of the final 21 points. Some of these were decidedly of the “wow” variety, including a forehand pass at the net off an Ivaska drop shot to break back for 2-3. The pièce de résistance: a spinning forehand crosscourt winner from the baseline after running down a topspin lob to begin the final game of the match.
There were a total of 20 service breaks in the match. Though Sinner was broken eight times, he did the same to Ivaska on 12 occasions, with three arriving at the perfect time: Ivashka’s last service games.
“First of all, thanks for staying up so long," Sinner said post-match, addressing the fans who remained at Louis Armstrong. "The atmosphere here is always very very great, especially when I’m down. Thanks to you guys for keeping my head up…I want to share this with you guys.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Sinner may not be at the very top of the “best players who have yet to win a major” list, but the 21-year-old is close. Tonight’s victory marks the eighth quarterfinal the Italian has made in 2022, and the list of events in which Sinner has made the final eight is impressive: the Australian Open, Wimbledon, three ATP Masters 1000 events (Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome), Dubai, Umag—the site of his only title in 2022, where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final—and the US Open.
MATCH POINT: Sinner has now made the quarterfinals in three of the four majors this year and four Grand Slam quarterfinals in total throughout his young career. However, the quarterfinal has been his Waterloo: He's lost each of his previous three Grand Slam matches during that round, including falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Melbourne this January and squandering a two-sets-to-love lead to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon this summer. His opponent on Wednesday will be the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.
