US OPEN – Men’s Singles. By Gabriel Matteazzi
Jannik Sinner dismantled the only player, apart from Carlos Alcaraz, who had managed to beat him this season, crushing Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 to return to the US Open quarterfinals—the tournament he won last year.
Coming into this clash, Sinner carried the memory of a previous loss to Bublik earlier this year in Halle. But this time, the Italian neutralized the Kazakh’s trademark booming serve with clinical precision, converting 8 breaks of serve in 11 opportunities. Bublik, who has been enjoying a strong season with titles in Halle, Gstaad, and Kitzbühel—and had strung together three dominant matches without dropping a game in New York—found himself completely overwhelmed.
From the very start, Sinner dictated the tempo, racing to a 4-0 lead in just 15 minutes and sealing the first set 6-1 in only 23 minutes. He replicated the scoreline in the following two sets as Bublik unraveled with 13 double faults, 31 unforced errors, and a meager 19% success rate on his second serve.
What stood out most, beyond the numbers, was the sheer quality of Sinner’s ball striking. His explosive groundstrokes—hitting with incredible depth and speed—kept Bublik pinned behind the baseline and denied him any rhythm. Sinner’s ability to turn defense into offense, combined with his lightning-fast acceleration through the ball, showcased why many consider him one of the cleanest and most lethal ball-strikers of his generation.
With this victory, Sinner extended his Grand Slam hard-court winning streak to 25 matches, keeping alive his defense of the world No. 1 ranking—a position still under threat from Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz throughout the remainder of the tournament.