US Open: No. 1 Jannik Sinner fends off Tommy Paul to reach latest Grand Slam quarterfinals

Though he hung with him early, Tommy Paul couldn’t get past the top-ranked tennis player in the world on Monday night.

Jannik Sinner fended off a battle from Paul at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York to advance to the US Open quarterfinals on Monday. Sinner won 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 in a thriller. The defeat knocked Paul out of the US Open and ended his second straight run to the fourth round of the tournament.

Sinner won the Australian Open to start the year, and reached the semifinals at the French Open and quarterfinals at Wimbledon. He’s now the fifth player to reach all four major quarterfinals in a single season at 23 or younger in the Open era. The win on Monday night was his 20th at a Grand Slam in 2024, the most among men and women this season.

Paul jumped up immediately and stunned Sinner out of the gate. He took a 4-1 lead, and scored 11 straight points while doing so in the first set. Sinner wasn’t out of it for long. He rattled off 10 of the next 12 and quickly tied the set up 4-4. He pushed it to 5-4 and nearly closed out the set there, but Paul saved the set point and eventually forced the tiebreak. Sinner edged him out in the end to claim the first set and complete his rally.

The two remained in lockstep in the second set, which went to a tiebreak after a late surge from Sinner. He then edged Paul out in the tiebreak yet again to take the one point win.

Finally, after two close sets, Sinner took off. The Italian jumped up 3-0 in the third, and then quickly ended the night with a 6-1 win in the third to grab his win in straight sets.

Sinner is the favorite to win at the US Open after both Carlos Alcaraz and Djokovic were eliminated early. He’ll take on No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, who he beat in the Australian Open final, next in the quarterfinals on Wednesday in what’s sure to be his toughest match of the tournament so far. Those two have split their two matches this season, as Medvedev beat Sinner at Wimbledon in five sets. Medvedev reached the quarterfinals after beating Portugal’s Nuno Borges in straight sets earlier on Monday.

Jessica Pegula reaches seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal

No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in three years with a straight sets victory over Diana Shnaider, 6-4, 6-2. Shnaider rallied in the first set, but Pegula – with the crowd voicing its support – was able to finish her off.

Pegula has now gotten to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament seven times. She joins fellow American Emma Navarro, who defeated Coco Gauff on Sunday. However, Pegula has never been able to advance to a semifinal in her previous six tries. At the 2022 US Open, she lost to Iga Swiatek, who she’s now set to face again after the No. 1 seed defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 in her match on Monday night.

However, Pegula thinks she’s playing her best tennis of the year. After losing in the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, getting to the US Open quarterfinals appears to back that up.