New York, Sep 2 (IANS) World No. 1 and defending US Open champion Jannik Sinner humbled Alexander Bublik to storm into the quarterfinals, setting up a showdown with fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

Sinner completed the 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 triumph in just 81 minutes against his Bublik, who committed 13 double faults—the last one on match point—among 31 unforced errors.

Sinner has now reached at least the quarterfinals at eight consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. The last time he was defeated before that stage was at the 2023 US Open, when he fell in the fourth round to Alexander Zverev.

There will be an all-Italian men’s singles quarter-final at a major for the first time when Sinner takes on 10th seed Musetti. The World No. 1 will carry a 2-0 ATP Head2Head advantage into their showdown.

“It’s great to see. Italian tennis is in great form now. We have so many players, so many different game styles,” Sinner said. “Lorenzo is maybe one of the biggest talents we have in our sport, so I’m looking forward for this one. From an Italian point of view it’s great to have for sure one Italian player in the semis.”

Sinner maintained pace in the battle for No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings with Carlos Alcaraz. He must outperform the Spaniard at the US Open to retain World No. 1.

The Italian became the youngest man to earn 24 wins at the majors in a season since 22-year-old Rafael Nadal in 2008 according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Sinner can reach 300 tour-level wins for his career by making the final in New York.

–IANS

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