On Monday, Italy’s Jannik Sinner made his way to the quarterfinals in the ongoing US Open 2022 after a thrilling five-set match against Ilya Ivashka. Sinner defeated Belarus’s Ivashka 6-1. 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Right from the start, the 21-year-old Italian felt out of place with 14 double faults and managed to put just 46 per cent of first serves into play. Sinner converted all three break points and soaked Ivashka’s pace with rock-solid defense claiming five of Ivashka’s first six service games.
Ivashka’s powerful forehand troubled Sinner as the match progressed, and with 55 unforced errors from the Italian, 11th seed Sinner seemed to lose grip of the match.
“Today I was struggling, I was not playing my best. But in the fifth set, I tried to dig deep and I’m very happy to be in the next round,” ATP.com quoted Sinner.
The 21-year-old has now reached the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments, becoming the youngest man to do so since Novak Djokovic in 2007-08.
In his next quarter final encounter, the 11th seed Jannik Sinner will be facing Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. The two would be seen clashing against each other at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. At just 19 years of age, Alcaraz has been ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
This would be the first time since 1881 that two Italian men- Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner-have reached the quarter-finals in the same year. Sinner and Berrettini also reached the Australian Open quarter-finals together in January.
(Inputs from ANI)