Alexander Zverev survived a third set comeback from Jannik Sinner to win 6-4 6-4 7-6(7) and reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.
The Olympic champion cruised through the majority of the match but had to resist a late comeback from the Italian.
Zverev produced 17 aces and 37 winners in comparison to Sinner’s 5 aces and 30 winners.
Next for the German will be either Reilly Opelka or Lloyd Harris.
It was a mixed start from both players with Sinner managing to create two break points on Zverev’s serve early on.
However the world number four held serve and eventually broke in the next game to take a 3-2 lead.
Both players were serving impressively well but it was Zverev’s returning that was causing Sinner the most problems as he had another chance to get a second break.
That didn’t materialise but the set lead did as Zverev won the opening set in 42 minutes.
In the second set both players continued to dominate on serve as both players produced heavy winners from all areas of the court.
No break points were created until Zverev ramped up the pressure with some big forehands and some powerful returns.
Eventually on his fifth break point the German sealed the break which was followed by a huge roar.
Sinner had a couple more opportunities to break in the next game but couldn’t take advantage of some missed first serves from the Olympic champion.
Last year’s finalist punished the world number 16’s mistakes to take a two set to love lead.
In the third set it looked like Zverev was well on his way to a comfortable straight sets victory when he broke in the third game.
But this time it was Sinner’s turn to produce fast, big-hitting returning in the important moments as he took his first break point of the set to level up at 4-4.
Sinner rallied the crowd and was producing consistent, heavy-hitting tennis that was testing Zverev’s counter-attacking skills.
The Italian had two chances to win the set to in the twelfth but would rue some simple shots as the fourth seed forced a third set tiebreak.
Sinner had three more set points in the tiebreak but once again rushed the simplest of shots with Zverev continuing to dig deep.
Unlike the Italian, Zverev only needed one chance to win the set and the match as he booked his place in the last eight.
After the match Zverev said he played a high-quality match, “It was a very high-level match from the start until the end,” Zverev was quoted by the BBC as saying in his on-court interview.
“It was never easy. I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals and to go through. Players with confidence usually know what to do in these kind of situations. I think I played pretty good tennis in the first and second set. I think I played one bad game all match which made it difficult in the third set.”
Zverev will now play Reilly Opelka or Lloyd Harris in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
