Jannik Sinner continued his march toward a second consecutive US Open title on Wednesday night, dispatching the 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours flat in the first ever all-Italian men’s quarter-final at a grand slam tournament. The world No 1 and top seed in New York was tested only in flickers but proved unmovable, saving all seven break points he faced while converting five of his six opportunities. The result laid bare once again the gulf between Sinner’s metronomic consistency and the rest of the field, even when confronted with a compatriot armed with one of the most elegant backhands in the sport.
Sinner burst from the gate, taking the first five games from an unsettled Musetti and pocketing the opening set in just 27 minutes. His depth and weight of shot locked his fellow Italian into defensive exchanges, and while Musetti produced stylish winners in spurts, they were outweighed by errors both unforced and otherwise. The second set was tighter. At 1-2, Sinner erased the only early danger with a 129mph unreturnable serve out wide before holding with a thunderous ace. Musetti went break point down in the fifth game after succumbing in an 18-shot rally only to escape with the hold to stay on serve. But serving at 4-4, 30-40, he double-faulted to gift the advantage to Sinner, who calmly served it out after the change of ends for a two-set lead.
The lack of tension in the match led to some poor crowd behavior – the customary din of conversation in Arthur Ashe Stadium even more distracting than normal, spectators going to and from their seats outside changeovers, the actor John Turturro at one point taking the place of a camera operator to delight of nearby fans – but Sinner’s composure never wavered, his game as mechanical as the No 7 trains rattling by within earshot.
By the start of the third, Musetti’s resistance was fading. He was broken in his opening service game and immediately under siege again. To his credit, he manufactured four break-point chances in the very next game and another two at 3-2, but Sinner repelled all of them with a mixture of poise and precision. When Musetti was broken again late in the set, the contest was over, Sinner sealing victory at love with a pair of aces.
The statistics lent numerical context to the one-way traffic. Sinner won 42 of 46 first-serve points (91%), finished with 28 winners to 17 unforced errors, never lost his serve and maintained an iron grip whenever danger loomed. Musetti struck 12 winners but sprayed 22 errors, undone as much by his failure to capitalize on rare openings as by Sinner’s relentless ball-striking. The 24-year-old has now dropped just 38 games in five matches, the second-fewest by a man to reach the US Open semi-finals since 2020. It was also his 26th consecutive win at majors played on hard courts, a streak that moved him above John McEnroe and now ranks alongside Novak Djokovic and Ivan Lendl as the third-longest in history.
“Finding myself again in the semis of a grand slam, it’s a great achievement,” said Sinner, who is bidding to become the first man to successfully defend the US Open title since Roger Federer claimed the last of five straight championships in 2008. “We try to prepare in the best possible way to be in this position. I really like playing best-of-five, I know my body a little bit better, so I’m very pleased to be here again.”
For Musetti, the occasion was both a lesson and a measure of how far he has come. “I never played, honestly, someone who put me on this kind of rush in the rally,” he said afterwards. “He was always leading the rally. Of course, he’s better than me, and he showed.” He added: “Pretty impressed by Jannik’s performance today. I think he served really well, and he was pushing me to my limit. I’m happy I played against him to understand the things I have to improve.”
Sinner, for his part, was quick to acknowledge the peculiar challenge of facing a compatriot. “Obviously, we know each other very well,” he said on court. “We come from the same country, we have so many Italian players every time in the draw. It’s nice to play here, obviously, playing Davis Cup together and then stuff like this, but we have to take the friendship away for the match and then when we shake hands it’s everything fine. From my point of view, it was a great performance, very solid, especially starting very well in the match.”
Asked whether he felt he was playing his best tennis, Sinner demurred. “Every player who is in the semis of a grand slam, they are playing amazing tennis,” he said. “It’s a very special tournament. They always say it’s the last grand slam of the year, the last biggest tournament we have throughout the season. So there’s no better place to play a night match here in the biggest stadium we have with an amazing crowd. It means a lot to me.”
He also reflected on the significance of an all-Italian occasion. “For sure at home, some Italians didn’t sleep,” he said with a grin. “We are very proud to be Italian. As I said, it’s a special country. We have amazing support, Italians are basically everywhere. So it’s great to be Italian and, yeah, see you in the next round.”
For Sinner, the victory stretched his unbeaten run against Italian opponents to 16-0 and secured a place in a fifth consecutive major semi-final. It was also his 86th win at a grand slam, tying Nicola Pietrangeli for the most by an Italian man. He will next face Felix Auger-Aliassime, the Canadian 25th seed who rallied past Alex de Minaur earlier in the day. Auger-Aliassime has won two of their three previous meetings, though Sinner thrashed him for the loss of only two games in Cincinnati last month. “It’s going to be completely different, because conditions here are different,” Sinner said. “He’s had some big wins, so big confidence for him. From my point of view, I always try to look at myself. It’s going to be a very, very difficult match for both of us, because at a grand slam the energy and everything is different.”
The quarter-final was a milestone for Italian tennis, the first time two men from the country had faced one another in the second week of any major. But there was never much doubt over which Italian would emerge. Sinner’s grip on Flushing Meadows remains firm, his authority undimmed, and the prospect of another deep September run now looks as routine as his latest victory.
