Sinner moves into second round despite slow start

Jannik Sinner took some time to settle into his latest US Open campaign after a slow start on Tuesday afternoon in New York.

The 23-year-old Italian and World No. 1 Sinner, found his rhythm to overcame home favourite Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Sinner who missed out on the Olympics games due to injury fought off a slow start to book his second-round encounter at the hard-court major with another American, Alex Michelsen on Thursday.

“I started not in the best way, for sure, but the first match in every tournament is not easy,” said Sinner in his on-court interview. “You have to accept it. He played really, really well at the beginning and I tried to stay there mentally, tried to get into a rhythm. I did that at some point in the second set and then just tried to keep going, so I’m very happy to be in the next round. It’s the first time that I won here on this court after some attempts, so I’m very happy about this.”

Sinner, who won his maiden Grand Slam trophy at January’s Australian Open and arrived in New York after lifting his third ATP Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati, is now 49-5 for the season.

Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev took the first step in regaining form Tuesday after early losses in Montreal and Cincinnati. The fifth seed Kick started his US Open title quest by defeating Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Medvedev who was last year’s finalist will next meet Fabian Marozsan or Hamad Medjedovic, the reigning champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

Czech Jakub Mensik clinched a statement win on Tuesday at the US Open, where he upset World No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to record his third Top 20 win.

Thanasi Kokkinakis upset World No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the second round at the US Open for the first time.

Jack Draper also advanced after China’s Zhang Zhizhen was forced to retire. The British lefty was leading 6-3, 6-0, 4-0 when Zhang ended the contest after 70 minutes. Former Top 10 star David Goffin was another Day 2 winner.

The Belgian beat 22nd seed Alejandro Tabilo 7-6(7), 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the last 64 in New York for the first time since 2020.