Back to Normal: After shock exits of Djokovic and Alcaraz, world No.1 Sinner advances at US Open

NEW YORK: Jannik Sinner never gave his third-round opponent at the US Open on Saturday, Chris O’Connell, even a moment to contemplate pulling off the sort of monumental upset that eliminated Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

“It shows that this sport is unpredictable. Whenever you drop a little bit of your level  if it’s mental, if it’s tennis-wise or physical  at the end, it has a huge impact on the result,” Sinner said. “Both opponents who they lost against, they played some incredible tennis. And it happens.”

Not to the No. 1-ranked Sinner, who is suddenly the favourite to win the men’s championship at Flushing Meadows. He won the first five games and 21 of the first 29 points to make quite clear how things would go at Arthur Ashe Stadium and wrapped up a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over O’Connell in under two hours.

“I felt like he was on from the get-go,” O’Connell said. “I felt a little bit clueless, to be honest. ... Every single shot, I just felt like I had to do something with it, because he was just on me. He was suffocating me.”

Stepping on court less than 15 hours after Djokovic’s loss to Alexei Popyrin, and two days after Alcaraz’s loss to Botic van de Zandschulp, Sinner was as dominant as can be in every facet of the sport. With 23-time major champion Serena Williams watching from an Ashe suite, Sinner struck 15 aces. He never faced a break point. He won five of O’Connell’s 12 service games. He finished with more than twice as many winners, 46, as unforced errors, 22.

“The best tennis player I’ve ever played, for sure,” the 30-year-old O’Connell said.

The only past men’s champion at the US Open still in the bracket is 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev.

“For sure didn’t expect to have this in the fourth round when Novak and Carlos are here,” Medvedev said after beating No. 31 Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. “So it’s a fun feeling from one side, but from the other side it’s a new tournament. I need to play my best to try to win it again.”

The No. 5 seed will next face Nuno Borges, who was a point away from elimination at 6-3 in a fourth-set tiebreaker, then rallied to beat Jakub Mensik 6-7 (5), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0.

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who counts the 2022 title at Flushing Meadows among her five Grand Slam trophies, beat No. 25 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the fourth straight year.

Earlier Saturday, Jasmine Paolini joined Coco Gauff as the only women to reach at least the fourth round at every major in 2024, getting that far at the US Open for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 30 seed Yulia Putintseva.