Jannik Sinner Escapes Early Scare To Dominate Denis Shapovalov At US Open

Sometimes tennis can feel like watching a slow-motion car crash, except the car suddenly grows wings and flies to safety. That is exactly what happened when Jannik Sinner found himself staring down the barrel of a potential upset against Denis Shapovalov at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.

The world No. 1 looked about as comfortable as a fish on dry land for the first hour and change, trailing by a set and watching Shapovalov pump his fist like he had already booked his ticket to the fourth round. But then something magical happened—Sinner remembered he is really good at tennis. What led to this change in fortune?

When Things Got Ugly for the World No. 1

Sinner looked rattled early on. And when I say rattled, I mean the kind of rattled that makes you wonder if someone switched his morning espresso with decaf. Shapovalov was absolutely crushing serves, 15 aces in the first set alone, and making the Italian look ordinary.

The Canadian took the opening set 7-5, and for those keeping score at home, that is not exactly what you would expect from a guy who’d barely dropped three games per set in his first two matches. Shapovalov was playing inspired tennis, the kind that makes coaches everywhere scribble furiously on their notepads. But here’s where it gets interesting. Down a set and facing adversity for the first time at Flushing Meadows this year, Sinner didn’t panic. Instead, he did what champions do—he got to work.

The Turning Point That Changed Everything

The second set was where we started seeing glimpses of the Sinner we all know and fear. He cleaned up his first-serve percentage, started winning 94% of those first-serve points, and suddenly Shapovalov’s rocket serves didn’t look quite so intimidating.

Then came the third set, and this is where things got really wild. Shapovalov jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and honestly, it felt like we might be witnessing a genuine upset. The Canadian was playing the tennis of his life, and Sinner looked like he was trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube with oven mitts on.

But tennis has this funny way of humbling players just when they think they’ve got it figured out. Sinner saved a break point that would have put him down 0-4, and that’s when the switch flipped.

Sinner’s Incredible Nine-Game Run

What happened next was pure poetry in motion. Sinner reeled off nine consecutive games. Nine. Let that sink in for a moment. That is like watching someone get knocked down in a boxing match and then throwing nine straight haymakers.

Shapovalov went from looking like he might pull off the upset of the tournament to looking like he would rather be anywhere else on planet Earth. The momentum shift was so dramatic, you could practically feel the energy change through your TV screen.

The Italian’s consistency became suffocating. Where Shapovalov had been painting lines and finding angles, he was now spraying errors and double-faulting at the worst possible moments. Meanwhile, Sinner was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.

The Final Act: Pure Domination

The fourth set wasn’t even competitive. Sinner grabbed an early break and never looked back, closing out the match 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 after three hours and 12 minutes of drama that had more twists than a Netflix thriller.

By the end, Shapovalov looked defeated—not just on the scoreboard, but emotionally. That is what facing a player like Sinner can do to you. Just when you think you’ve got him figured out, he shows you exactly why he’s sitting at the top of the rankings.

The statistics tell the story: Sinner won 12 of the final 15 games and extended his hard-court major winning streak to 24 matches. More importantly, he became the fourth-youngest man to win 20 matches at all four Grand Slams, joining some pretty exclusive company with Nadal, Becker, and Djokovic.

Looking Ahead: The Road Gets Tougher

Now sitting pretty at 34-4 for the season, Sinner will face either Tommy Paul or Alexander Bublik in the fourth round. Interestingly enough, Bublik is one of only two players (along with Carlos Alcaraz) to beat the Italian this year, taking him down on grass at Halle.

But if this match taught us anything, it’s that writing off Sinner, even when he’s struggling, is a fool’s errand. The defending champion showed the kind of mental fortitude that separates the good players from the great ones, turning what could have been a devastating early exit into another step toward defending his title.

As he chases history by becoming the first player to successfully defend the US Open since Roger Federer back in 2008, matches like this one against Shapovalov might just be the perfect preparation for the battles ahead.