World No. 1 Jannik Sinner made quick work of 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen in the second round of the U.S. Open, the Italian prevailing 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday in New York.
Sinner, who also defeated Michelsen during the Cincinnati Open earlier this month, notched his 50th match win of the season and his 30th on hard courts, most on the ATP Tour.
Sinner saved 3 of 5 break points while converting 8 of 16 chances to break Michelsen’s serve en route to victory in a tidy one hour, 39 minutes. He capitalized on Michelsen’s 32 unforced errors.
“I am very happy to get through. He is a very tough opponent,” Sinner said post-match. “We had a match in Cincinnati one week ago, so I knew a little what to expect.”
Sinner’s third-round opponent will be Australian Christopher O’Connell, who beat Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
It wasn’t as breezy for other top seeds on Thursday. Australia’s Jordan Thompson, unseeded but ranked 32nd in the world, rolled past No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-6 (2), 6-1, 7-5.
Thompson hit 13 aces to just two double faults and won 42 of his 51 first-service points (82.4 percent).
Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic toppled No. 16 seed Sebastian Korda of the U.S. 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round of the U.S. Open for the first time.
“It was pretty difficult. I think I was playing a solid match, so was Sebi at the beginning,” Machac said. “At the beginning of the third set, I noticed he was struggling, shaking out his hand, but he was still fighting so much and playing like he wasn’t in pain. So I had to be really focused on my tennis.”
No. 30 seed Matteo Arnaldi of Italy beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Eleven other matches were scheduled for Thursday, including No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia facing Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain facing Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at night.
–Field Level Media
