Jannik Sinner avoided the fate of his top rivals, reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open while fellow top seed Iga Swiatek gained momentum in her quest for a sixth Grand Slam title after a pep talk from Serena Williams on Saturday.
With defending champion Novak Djokovic forced out by a shock loss to Alexei Popyrin in the third round on Friday and another title contender, Carlos Alcaraz, sent crashing by Botic van de Zandschulp in round two a day earlier, all eyes were on Sinner.
The Italian, who has managed the intense scrutiny following a doping controversy in the build-up to the tournament, thumped Christopher O’Connell 6-1 6-4 6-2 to underline his credentials as the outright favourite at the year’s final major.
“This sport is unpredictable, no? Whenever you drop a little bit of your level, you know, if it’s mental, if it’s tennis-wise or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result,” Sinner said about the exits of Djokovic and Alcaraz.
“Both opponents who they lost against played incredible tennis. And it happens.
“So I just watch on my side what I have to do, you know, that I guess I’ve done, and then we’ll see what I can do.”
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Up next for the Australian Open champion is Tommy Paul, who is among a group of players keen to end a 21-year American wait for a homegrown major winner, since Andy Roddick claimed the title in New York.
Paul, the 14th seed, recovered from a first-set wobble to overcome Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 7-6(3) and hoped to counter Sinner’s “bang-bang tennis” when they clash.
“He’s probably the best ball striker on tour and I’m not,” Paul said. “I don’t want to go toe to toe just banging on the baseline with him. I want to try and mix things up.”
Paul’s compatriot and sixth seed Jessica Pegula advanced in the women’s draw with a 6-3 6-3 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, but Ashlyn Krueger fell 6-1 6-1 to Liudmila Samsonova.
French Open champion Swiatek later swatted aside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-2 with a near-flawless performance after a chat with 23-times major winner Williams, who returned to the U.S. Open as a fan having stepped away from tennis in 2022.
“It was really nice to see her. She has a lot of positive energy. It’s nice that she came onsite and she was chatting with the players,” a star-struck Swiatek said.
“It was nice that she approach me, because I wouldn’t, for sure, find the courage to do that if it was the other way round. But, yeah, she’s really nice and really positive.
“I’m happy she’s following tennis and my game, because she told me she’s cheering for me.”