Top-seeded Sinner sails into US Open 3rd round / Photo: KENA BETANCUR - AFP
Top-seeded Sinner sails into US Open 3rd round
World number one Jannik Sinner, vying to add the US Open title to the Australian Open crown he won in January, breezed into the third round on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Alex Michelsen.
Italy's Sinner needed just an hour and 39 minutes to get past the 49th-ranked Michelsen, giving himself a match point with a crisp forehand winner down the line and polishing it off with a crosscourt forehand volley.
He'll next play Australian wild card Christopher O'Connell as he aims to stay on course for a semi-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion who won both the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
O'Connell advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci.
"Very happy," said Sinner, who beat Michelsen in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters this month.
"He's a very tough opponent. We played each other in Cincinnati a week ago. I knew what to expect, he knew what to expect a little."
Sinner went on to claim his fifth title of the season in Cincinnati.
A day later it was revealed that Sinner had escaped a ban despite twice testing positive for an anabolic agent in March, authorities accepting his explanation that the result was the result of inadvertent contamination.
P.Smid--EWJ
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