Jannik Sinner climbed into the quarterfinals after defeating Alexander Bublik in the round of 16 of the 2025 US Open. And the score? It was a one-sided 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 against someone who hadn’t lost a service game in three rounds, which included a victory over world No. 14 Tommy Paul. No wonder Bublik couldn’t help but be in awe of his Italian opponent.

As the two met for a customary handshake at the net after the match, the Kazakh told Sinner, “You’re so good, this is insane. I’m not bad, like what the f—!” But was it really a surprise for Bublik? Even though he had gotten the better of the Italian the last time they met in Halle, Bublik was well aware of the fact that his opponent wasn’t just another world-class player.

“I mean, he’s like an AI-generated player,” the Kazakh exclaimed in his pre-match interview with ESPN inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sinner secured 8 aces, while making just one double fault in the match. In the opening game itself, Sinner returned all of Bublik’s six first serves. And when the latter double-faulted, his streak of service holds came to an end. But again, that’s something that he had already predicted.

But did you know that Bublik had already predicted that he would drop a few serves in the battle against Sinner? Following his win over Paul, the Kazakh predicted, “I mean, I have a next match against Jannik. So, probably that will be the match. I would probably drop a couple of serves.” Sinner went on to break Bublik’s serve a total of eight times and faced just one break point. That, among other things, seemed to have made all the difference, as the reigning Wimbledon champion himself admitted.

Jannik Sinner analyzes his match against Alexander Bublik

Sinner took an hour and 21 minutes to close out the match—the second-shortest completed singles match in the US Open this year, as far as the men are concerned. The reason seemed to align with Sinner’s familiarity with Bublik’s game. 

Following the match, Sinner confessed, “We had some tough battles this year, but we know each other’s game really well. He had a tough match [in the third round], five sets, finishing late and he didn’t serve as well as he usually does.” Nevertheless, he was very happy with the outcome of the match. 

After all, it turned out to match his most comprehensive win at the majors yet—the 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 win against Jiri Lechecka in Round 3 of the Roland Garros. He’s now set to face Lorenzo Musetti for an all-Italian quarterfinal. As he proceeds to the next stage of the US Open, follow EssentiallySports’ live blog for more updates from Flushing Meadows!