Tommy Paul vs Jannik Sinner was one of the most anticipated Round of 16 matches at the US Open 2024. The first set of the match itself had everything in it and it arguably made the biggest difference in the final result. Paul blew away what could have given him a huge psychological boost in defeating Sinner, who has been in imperious form at the Grand Slam.
With the American crowd cheering for the hometown hero, Paul had a dream start, racing to a 4-1 lead. After both players held their serves in the first two games of the set, the World No. 14 would proceed to win three games in a row. The 27-year-old was looking formidable as he went up two breaks and even won consecutive games without dropping a single point.
At that point, it seemed as though the New Jersey native was in prime position to clinch the first set. However, the Italian displayed some incredible tennis over the following 20 minutes. Losing only two points over the next three games, Sinner returned the favor by winning three games in a row as well, leveling the at 4-4.
Paul had a chance to take advantage of Sinner’s shaky serve by being up 5-4, but the World No.1 managed to hold that vital game to again level things at 5-5. It took just 20 minutes for the tables to turn. Encouraged by his comeback, Sinner forced the set to enter into a tiebreak.
Even then, Paul had the edge over Sinner because of already having participated in two tiebreaks in his previous encounter against Gabriel Diallo. On the other hand, it was the World No.1’s first tiebreak in the tournament.
But the San Candido native held his nerve and silenced the crowd by winning the tiebreak, 7-3.
Sinner surges and takes the first!
Down 4-1, he comes back to take it in a tiebreaker. pic.twitter.com/NnO8vYIw3G
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2024
The level of tennis in the first 1 hour and 4 minutes of the duel was entertaining, to say the least. To his credit, Paul played a much better second set but again, Sinner won the mental battle by clinching another tiebreak, 7-6.
By that point, the American seemed spent trying to combat Sinner’s relentless game and attacking baseline shots, which were coupled by impressive serve and net point wins. Running out of steam, Paul conceded the third set to Sinner, 1-6.
While many would feel that for his ranking and being American, Paul was plain unlucky for having to deal with a difficult draw. However, Sinner has again shown what it takes to have big-match mentality.
In the quarterfinals, Sinner will next play Daniil Medvedev, the man who he beat at the Australian Open 2024 final to win his first Grand Slam title. On the other hand, it is another opportunity for Paul to go back to the drawing board and assess where he went wrong in again missing out on winning a Major.
