Alexander Bublik could not believe what he saw from Jannik Sinner after the defending US Open champion marched into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-1 6-1 win against him in just 82 minutes.
Bublik was the last player to beat Sinner, and the only player other than Carlos Alcaraz to win against him this season, when he did so on grass at Halle shortly before Wimbledon in June.
The 23rd seed had reached the fourth round in New York for the first time and without dropping his serve once, but was broken immediately by the World No 1 and Sinner showed no mercy as he set up a quarter-final clash with fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
It was a nightmare match for Bublik, though, and after needing more than three-and-a-half hours to defeat Tommy Paul in the third round he crashed out amid a string of double faults, including one that was underarm.
Bublik was left celebrating as he won a game in the third set. The 28-year-old almost fell into Sinner’s arms at the net and had the World No 1 laughing along when he said to him: “That was so good. I’m not so bad, but you’re the GOAT”.
“We know each other very well,” Sinner told the crowd afterwards when asked what Bublik had said to him. “We had some tough battles, especially this year.
“He just said congrats and wished me all the best. He had a very tough match in the last match. Today he didn’t serve as well as he usually serves. I broke him very early in every set which gave me the confidence to serve a bit better. I’m very very happy.”
Sinner has now won 25 matches in a row at the hard-court grand slams after winning two Australian Opens and last year’s US Open.
Bublik may have been beaten before the match even began and said Sinner is “is like an AI-generated player” in a pre-game interview.
“I tried to move him around, trying to see how he moves, trying to put it more on the physical side,” Sinner explained. “Today I played some good tennis at times.
“At times, you know, he gave me some free points. I just tried to stay as consistent as possible, and I think that today was maybe the main key.”