Sannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek brought out their authority as the top two in the world rankings by posting overwhelming performances on Thursday to land with great ease in the third round of the US Open.
Sannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek brought out their authority as the top two in the world rankings by posting overwhelming performances on Thursday to land in the third round of the US Open. Sinner lost the first set when debuting in New York, but had no problems when facing a second American opponent at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Italian scored his 50th victory of the season and his 30th on hard courts — a leader on the ATP tour. Sinner beat Michelsen for the second time this month, beating him in the second round en route to the Cincinnati Masters title, just before it was revealed that he tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March. “I’m happy to advance, he’s a pretty tough opponent,” Sinner said. “We played Cincinnati a week ago, so I had an idea of what to expect.” Swiatek dispatched Ena Shibahara 6-0, 6-1, a Japanese who had to bypass the qualifying phase to enter the main draw. The Polish star finished the first set in 23 minutes and closed the match at 65. In her debut, the 2022 US Open champion added more time on court during a second set that was decided in a tiebreaker that finally tipped in her favor after 72 minutes. “My pace was much better,” Swiatek said. “I was a little tense in the previous game.” Jasmine Paolini, the Italian who has just finished runner-up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, barely played three points before advancing when Karolina Pliskova withdrew due to a left foot injury. Paolini reached the third round of the US Open for the first time. Two seeds in the men’s draw succumbed: the Polish Hurbert Hurkacz (7) fell in straight sets against the Australian Jordan Thompson and the American Sebastian Korda (16) suffered the same fate against the Czech Tomas Machac. In the female branch, the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia (22) defeated the Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-1. Another Spaniard, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, gave the surprise by defeating the British Katie Boulter (31) in straight sets.
