World number one Jannik Sinner defeated Alex Michelsen in straight sets to advance to the third round of the US Open. Sinner, from Italy, secured a 6-4 6-0 6-2 victory, marking his 50th win of the year.
The Australian Open champion is competing in his first tournament since being cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for a banned substance earlier this year. The 23-year-old is set to face Australian Chris O’Connell in the third round.
Sinner struggled initially against American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round, dropping the first set before coming back to win 2-6 6-2 6-1 6-2. However, he had a smoother match against Michelsen, securing a dominant win in one hour and 39 minutes. The match followed their previous encounter at the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month, where Sinner also emerged victorious.
In other results, seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz was eliminated by Australian Jordan Thompson with a score of 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 7-5. This marks the sixth consecutive year Hurkacz has exited the US Open in the second round.
Sixteenth seed Seb Korda was defeated by Czech Tomas Machac with a score of 6-4 6-2 6-4. Machac will face Belgium’s David Goffin in the third round.
French 24th seed Arthur Fils was upset by world number 143 Gabriel Diallo of Canada, with scores of 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4.
Australian 10th seed Alex de Minaur advanced after defeating Finland’s Otto Virtanen 7-5 6-1 7-6 (7-3). De Minaur will play either Britain’s Dan Evans or Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the third round.
American 14th seed Tommy Paul moved forward when his Australian opponent Max Purcell retired in the third set with Paul leading 7-5 6-0 1-0.
