Jannik Sinner claimed his quickest Grand Slam victory with a brutal destruction of Alexander Bublik in the fourth round of the US Open.
The world No 1 dropped his first set of the tournament to Denis Shapovalov in the third round and had looked a little vulnerable, but he needed just an hour and 21 minutes to race to a 6-1 6-1 6-1 win against Bublik.
The unpredictable Kazakh is the only man other than Carlos Alcaraz to have beaten Sinner in the last 12 months, doing so on grass in Halle, while he was the only player to make it to the fourth round without dropping serve.
In his pre-match interview he said his goal was not to lose his first service game, but he did just that and did not help himself with 13 double faults – including one featuring two underarm serves in the first set – as he dropped serve a further seven times.
There were also far too many errors off the ground from Bublik, who at least raised his level in the third set only for Sinner to reply with interest.
Bublik could do nothing but smile at some of the winners from the defending champion, although the fans who had paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket may not have felt quite so appreciative.
Bublik dubbed Sinner “AI generated” ahead of the contest and, greeting the Italian at the net, he said: “You’re so good, this is insane. I’m not bad.”
Sinner cited Bublik’s long battle with Tommy Paul in the previous round in mitigation, saying: “He had a very tough match the last match. He didn’t serve as well as he usually does. I’m very happy. The first time this year I can play the night match here and it makes so, so big difference.”
Sinner’s winning run at hard-court Grand Slams now stands at 25 matches – only two short of Novak Djokovic’s best – and he will take on Lorenzo Musetti in the last eight in the first all-Italian men’s quarter-final at a Grand Slam.
“It’s great to see,” said the top seed. “Italian tennis is in great form now. Lorenzo is maybe one of the biggest talents we have in our sport. From an Italian point of view, it’s great to have one Italian player in the semis.”
Tenth seed Musetti is having his best run at Flushing Meadows and was almost as dominant as Sinner, beating Spain’s Jaume Munar 6-3 6-0 6-1.
Alex de Minaur hopes he can finally break through the Grand Slam quarter-final barrier after setting up a last-eight clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime in New York.
The Australian is through to this round for the fifth time in his last seven major tournaments and sixth time overall, but he has never been further.
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Alex de Minaur says he wants to be in contention after he booking a place in the US Open quarter-finals by making light work of Leandro Riedi
Last year he was beaten here by Britain’s Jack Draper amid injury struggles, with the 26-year-old yet to win a set in a Grand Slam quarter-final.
After racing to a 6-3 6-2 6-1 win over Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur said: “I’ve always thought that the first job is to get there, right, and give myself the opportunity.
“If I bum out early, I’m never going to get the chance, so at least I’ve got the chance in front of me. It’s about embracing it.
“This is my sixth quarter-final, so I’ve got some experience. I know what to expect, and the mindset going forward is going to be going for it. There’s no holding back.”
De Minaur will go in as a slight favourite against Auger-Aliassime, although the Canadian has won two of their three previous meetings.
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Highlights from the US Open clash between Andrey Rublev meets Felix Auger-Aliassime
Auger-Aliassime is showing some of the best form of his career and followed up his big upset of third seed Alexander Zverev in the third round by seeing off Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-3 6-4.
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