The first all-Italian men’s singles Grand Slam quarterfinal delivered what most expected: a dominant display from World No.1 Jannik Sinner on his favorite surface. Under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 24-year-old dismantled Lorenzo Musetti, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, to book his place in the semifinals at the US Open.
With the victory, Sinner stretched his hard-court Grand Slam winning streak to 26 matches, and his US Open winning streak to 12. The Italian is now 25-1 at the majors this year, his only loss coming in the Roland-Garros final to Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner, calm and assured, put his experience to work in a lopsided opening set as Musetti showed nerves. Though the 22-year-old raised his level in sets two and three, the result was never in doubt. The top seed saved all seven break points he faced and never let his countryman find a foothold.
“I love to go deep in a tournament and try to raise my level. You know, I feel like that since two years now and in Grand Slams, I really like playing best-of-five. I know my body a little bit better, so I’m very happy and pleased to be again in the semis,” Sinner said.
“I think with an opponent like him you have to take the few chances that he gives you, and I was not able to do it,” Musetti admitted afterward.
Sinner was ruthless, clocking 28 winners to just 12 for Musetti. He wrapped proceedings in just two hours, keeping his on-court total to a manageable 10 hours and 12 minutes through five matches. He’s dropped only one set along the way — to Denis Shapovalov in the fourth round.
Reflecting on the challenge of facing his compatriot, Musetti acknowledged how far Sinner’s game has come.
“Of course a lot of things changed from our last meeting. We both grew up. I honestly never played someone who put me in this kind of rush in the rallies, [not giving me] many chances in the rally, and he was always leading the rally. So that was kind of a bad feeling, of course.”
Sinner now turns his attention to Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian won their first two meetings, but the Italian blasted him 6-0, 6-2 just weeks ago in Cincinnati.
“It’s going to be completely different, because, you know, conditions here are different. He had some big wins, so big confidence boost for him,” Sinner said.
