Ricky’s picks for the U.S. Open quarterfinals: Sinner vs. Medvedev, De Minaur vs. Draper

A blockbuster U.S. Open quarterfinal matchup pits Jannik Sinner against Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday. A more surprising matchup features Alex de Minaur and Jack Draper.

Here are my pick’s as quarterfinal competition wraps up at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

(1) Jannik Sinner vs. (5) Daniil Medvedev

This is a showdown worthy of a final, which is exactly the stage on which they played at the Australian Open. Sinner came back from two sets down in that one to capture his first and only Grand Slam title. Medvedev answered at Wimbledon with a five-set victory of his own, that one in the quarterfinals. The Russian now leads the head-to-head series 7-5.

This promises to be another fun one between two guys who have absolutely rolled so far this fortnight. Sinner is the No. 1 player in the world and therefore the favorite on paper, but Medvedev is a maestro in New York. The world No. 5 lifted the trophy in 2021 and finished runner-up in both 2019 and 2023. These New York courts are Medvedev’s stomping grounds; that’s why an upset is very possible.

Pick: Medvedev in 5

(25) Jack Draper vs. (10) Alex de Minaur

De Minaur is no stranger to being on this stage, having also reached the quarterfinals at the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this season. The Aussie beat Medvedev at Roland Garros before losing to Alexander Zverev in the last eight; at the all-England Club he dropped a grand total of one set but was forced to withdraw because of hip injury prior to facing Novak Djokovic.

The hip issue forced De Minaur to miss the Paris Olympics and the entire hard-court summer heading into the U.S. Open, but he has gotten right back to business with just two sets lost so far. Draper has also rolled at the expense of similarly unspectacular competition. The difference could be De Minaur’s physical superiority in best-of-five and his confidence in this particular matchup. The 25-year-old is sweeping the head-to-head series 3-0.

Pick: De Minaur in 5

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.