US Open 2024 Men’s Day 4

Jannik Sinner backed up a win from two weeks ago as the world No. 1 crushed Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday to power into the US Open third round, claiming his 50th match win of the season.

The Italian who won the Cincinnati title this month and holds the Australian Open trophy, broke the American eight times in his runaway win after playing a closer contest in the Cincy second round.

The top seed who is trying to put the negativity of a positive spring doping test behind him after being ruled innocent, has his head down and is concentrating only on his game.

His defeat of Michelsen took an hour and three-quarters; Sinner wrapped it up with a serve-and-volley winner on his first match point.

“I’m very happy with the match, we only just played so I know what to expect from him,” the winner said.

“I have special memories here at the first Grand Slam where I played in the main draw. 

“I can improve a couple of things, but I’m happy to be in the next round.”

Sinner will tangle in the next round with Australian Chris O’Connell, who defeated No. 101 qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The Italian from the German-speaking northern alpine region, refused to get involved in more re-hashing of his recent case and stringing criticism on social media from notorious Nick Kyrgios, commenting here for US television after playing just one match during nearly two seasons.

Even the annoying jets which roar over the tennis grounds as they use nearby La Guardia airport could not break the Sinner concentration.

“Here it’s a bit more noisy,” he said of the notorious Flushing Meadows venue. “I didn’t even realise so much the planes. 

“You hear a bit of noise, but it’s part of here. So I think we all players know that, so we accept it quite well.”

Seventh-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who underwent summer knee surgery and got back on court within a month, was knocked out 7-6 (2), 6-1, 7-5 by 32nd-ranked Australian Jordan Thompson.

Hurkacz was denied a first-ever third-round spot in New York and has now lost in the second round during all six of his appearances here.

Sebastian Korda became the first US seed to exit as the No. 16 lost to Czech Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 .

Korda needed a pair of medical timeouts, with the trainer checking his right arm.

Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round, fell 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 to Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

Tenth-seeded countryman Alex de Minaur, who is back after a Wimbledon knee injury which forced him to skip the Olympics, advanced with a 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen.

Brit Jack Draper defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and will play the third round here for a third consecutive edition.