By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Photo credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty
NEW YORK—Teammates Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti have helped Italy hoist successive Davis Cup championships.
World No. 10 Musetti aims to pull off a major heist facing Sinner in the first all-Italian Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open.
Defending US Open champion Sinner annihilated Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth round, leaving the creative Kazakhstan player branding the top seed a tennis “AI.”
World No. 1 Sinner rides a 26-major match hard-court winning streak into the quarterfinal clash vs. Musetti. Sinner is playing for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam hard-court championship.
The Muse Man said his mission of trying to snap Sinner’s superb streaks “drives me really crazy.”
“He’s the best player in the world, so I guess that’s the biggest challenge that we have in our sport,” Musetti said. “That’s, you know, what drive me really crazy, the idea to try to break this amazing run that he’s been doing.
“Of course he’s the best champion. He knows really well the condition here. But I think he has, you know, the thing he has to win. I think the pressure will be mostly on his side.”
Throughout his run to his first US Open quarterfinal, Musetti has served sharply and showed his all-court acumen and finishing skills at net.
Of course, serving well against Sinner, who destroyed the big-serving Bublik’s serve, and trying to attack net against the top-seed’s rocket passes is an entirely different story.
Sinner has broken serve a tournament-best 26 times in four matches, while Musetti is not far behind with 23 breaks in four matches.
Four-time major champion Sinner calls Musetti one of the most talented players in the sport and he’s swept his teammate in both of their prior meetings.
“It’s going to be very interesting to see obviously,” Sinner said. “It’s a bit different when you play the same, or from me being Italian playing against another Italian, they are always a bit different matches. But in the same time, he’s an amazing player, very, very talented. He is playing some great tennis.
“He has struggled a bit, you know, during the season, but now he finds himself in an amazing form and shape. Yeah, you know, the pressure is on me, you know. But in the same time, you know, most of the times the pressure is a little bit more me than on the opponent, so let’s see what’s coming.
“I like these challenges. It’s great from an Italian point of view to have, for sure, an Italian playing the semis of a Grand Slam.”
The challenge for Musetti is trying to impose his variation against the ballistic ball striking of Sinner, who gives opponents little time to react let alone create.
Grigor Dimitrov, like Musetti, owns an exquisite one-handed backhand and used his slice effectively to build a lead against Sinner at Wimbledon before a torn pectoral ended the Bulgarian’s dream of an upset.
Musetti will try to use his variety, as he did against massive server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in round one, to unsettle Sinner but concedes he hopes pressure plays on the defending champion’s mind.
“I know that Jannik, he has a really good mindset, but I think I have to take advantage
on this thing, and I think I have to be ready, you know, to try to win this match,” Musetti said.
