US Open 2024 Updates: The Italian star, Jannik Sinner defeats Daniil Medvedev to secure a spot in the US Open semi-finals, making him the top contender for the title.
Fans were expecting a thrilling match between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev in the US Open quarterfinal, but it fell short of their expectations. Sinner, the top-seeded Italian, however, did enough to defeat the Russian and go to the semi-finals. Even though the match was inconsistent, Sinner prevailed 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
You can always count on Daniil Medvedev, who is equally comfortable on hard court baselines and in front of the microphone, to accurately describe the outcome of a match, no matter which side he ends up on. The Italian player’s performance in the US Open quarterfinal didn’t quite live up to expectations, but it was still enough to advance.
“I don’t think this is the best match. And to be honest, I don’t believe it’s the greatest from him either,” the Russian stated following the US Open quarterfinal. But he prevailed. Indeed, he was superior.
In what was billed as the final before the final, Jannik Sinner was just about superior. The top-ranked Italian generated just enough quality on his end to get to the semi-final with an unexpectedly dramatic 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph, even though the overall level remained far from it.
Both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year featured two hard-fought five-set meetings between Sinner and Medvedev. Neither of them played lights-out tennis in New York. And neither maintained their form for long enough, or at the same time, for the match to feel like a match between the last two Grand Slam winners in this controversial US Open. Particularly at the start of each set, the abrupt and peculiar shifts in momentum were perplexing.
“As for why it precisely happened, I don’t know yet, and I probably won’t,” Medvedev remarked.
Sinner has, in fact, advanced to his third Major semifinal this season, his first coming at the US Open. The French Open and Wimbledon semifinalist from this year, as well as the 2024 Australian Open champion, are the first men born in the 1990s or 2000s to reach at least the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams. Only three other players are still active on that list: Marin Cilic, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Sinner, 23, has demonstrated that he is capable of becoming an equally competent all-court, all-season player, even in the year that Carlos Alcaraz, 21, became the youngest player to sweep Slams across the three surfaces. Furthermore, the world No. 1 is now the overwhelming favorite to follow up his Slam breakthrough at the beginning of the season with a second right at the finish as the only major finalist left in the draw and the opponent he will face, Great Britain’s unexpected semifinalist Jack Draper.
Which speaks volumes about the Italian’s ability to ignore everything and conduct himself normally on the court, especially in light of the commotion surrounding his positive dope tests in the week before the US Open and even throughout the competition.
“I have my group of friends and family and my team. And I never waver when it comes to those who know and trust me. After defeating Medvedev, Sinner declared, “It’s very important.” “Undoubtedly, things weren’t easy at first, but things got better with time.”
Sinner has improved with each set and match since losing his opening set at Flushing Meadows. In the quarterfinal, he was also unquestionably superior over Medvedev due to his bolder strategy and more deft net play.
Sinner is not as comfortable there as he is from the baseline, but he became astute with his strategy because the Russian court position is so far behind. With 33 rushes to the net, Sinner won 28 of those points, giving him a career-high victory percentage of 85 (compared to Medvedev’s 67%). Even while it didn’t always succeed, he mixed in a lot of slices and serve-and-volleys to keep Medvedev wanting for rhythm from the back of the court.
We made a concerted effort to improve this component of the game. Sinner remarked, “I know I can get much better, especially going to the net. “I attempted to incorporate something different by serving and volleying a few times.”
Overall, the contest remained a mixed bag. Medvedev thought of himself as “horrible” during the opening set. The 2021 winner was pleased with his ability to address problems that evening, which included attacking Sinner’s second serves in the second set by moving much closer to the baseline. Sinner was the one who was blown away this time, so it worked. At the beginning of the third set, the wind shifted sharply once more, and Medvedev abruptly reverted to his first-set behavior.
It was left to Medvedev to solve the puzzle once more, which he accomplished for the first portion of the fourth set, which was the closest of all. Medvedev had two break point chances at 2-3, and he would later regret missing the spinning backhand volley off the second. In the subsequent match, Sinner gained the advantage and defeated Medvedev, just like in the Australian Open final.
“Perhaps I was taking a few more chances and missed a few more shots today. I kind of became lost in my misses for a while after that, Medvedev added. “Perhaps it applied to him as well.”
There was much uncertainty over how to interpret this quarterfinal. However, Sinner‘s Slam is now undoubtedly his to lose.