Defending champion and No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner cruised through his first-round match at the U.S. Open, taking down Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday in New York.
The Italian never had his serve broken and needed just one hour and 38 minutes to complete the sweep. He hit seven aces while benefiting from Kopriva’s eight double faults; Sinner also won 33 of 40 first-service points (82.5 percent) and 15 of 19 points at the net (78.9 percent).
It was Sinner’s first singles match since his surprise illness-related retirement during the final of the Cincinnati Open against Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz.
“It feels great to be back here,” Sinner said, per The Guardian. “It’s a very special tournament, the last Grand Slam of the year. The atmosphere is always amazing.
“I’m feeling healthy again,” he added. “We did our best to be in the best possible shape.”
Sinner’s next opponent will be Australian Alexei Popyrin, who defeated Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Sinner’s countryman, 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, pushed past Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Both men finished with 13 aces and won at least 85 percent of their first-service points, but Musetti limited himself to one double fault versus Mpetshi Perricard’s 10.
No. 19 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina became the first player this tournament to rally from a two-sets-to-none hole. He fell down a break in the third set before charging back to beat Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.
As of 4:30 p.m. ET, no seeded player in the men’s draw had been defeated. No. 23 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, and No. 27 Denis Shapovalov of Canada swept Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.
Other winners included French wild card Valentin Royer, Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi and Belgium’s David Goffin.
Among the remaining matches Tuesday evening, German third seed Alexander Zverev is slated to face Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo and No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur will match up with Christopher O’Connell in a battle of Australians.
–Field Level Media
