The excitement was palpable early in the first set, with chants of “USA” mixed in with chants of “Go Tommy.” This was Tommy Paul's night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and it was Tommy Paul's match, even with No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner standing across the net.
All he had to do was pull off the upset.
That possibility remained even as Paul played as close as possible with Sinner for two sets, losing two tiebreaks without overturning the scoreline.
September 2, 2024. Jason Senes/New York Post
Then Paul collapsed. Sinner recovered. The third set collapsed.
Paul's night, trying to put America in a three-player role in the U.S. Open quarterfinals, ended with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 loss.
Paul won 11 straight points in the opening set to take a 4-1 lead, then beat Sinner on the final point to elicit a frenzy from the crowd.
But Sinner won the next four games to take the lead, and the two players traded games until the tiebreaker.
With a chance to take a 2-1 lead, Paul smashed the finishing shot into the net.
He trailed at 3-3 but lost the final four games to lose the set.
A similar pattern unfolded in the second set.
Sinner held serve to win all four points to send the match into another tiebreak, where Paul had chances to pull two points ahead, but Sinner denied him with successive volleys.
But once the third set began, everything changed.
Paul couldn't hold serve like he did in the first two sets.
He couldn't finish the rally with the same finishing shot, and when Pole's final shot missed, Sinner held on.
And Paul's night ended without a final celebration.
This left just two Americans, Francis Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, in the quarterfinals, ending the country's 21-year Grand Slam victoryless streak.
