Jannik Sinner stumbles, then steps
on gas in U.S. Open first round
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[August 28, 2024]
Top-seeded Jannik Sinner surprisingly dropped his first set
of the U.S. Open before rallying for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win over
Mackenzie McDonald in the first round Tuesday in New York.
McDonald, an American ranked No. 140 in the world, had the home
crowd on his side as he broke the Italian's serve in an opening game
that featured five break points. Sinner came back to tie it 2-2
before McDonald rattled off the final four games of the set.
McDonald broke the World No. 1 again in the first game of the second
set, but Sinner responded by winning four in a row and took control
for the rest of the match.
"I started not in the best way, for sure, but the first match in
every tournament is not easy," Sinner said 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."
Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January for his first major
trophy, is playing his first tournament since news broke that he
tested positive for a banned steroid twice in March but avoided
suspension.
Sinner hit 12 aces to McDonald's two, saved 7 of 11 break points and
capitalized on his opponent's 46 unforced errors. This marked
Sinner's first win inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"We go day by day. (Wednesday) I have a day off and we will try to
get a little bit more rhythm and try to improve for the next match,"
Sinner said.
He'll face an American for the second straight round -- 20-year-old
Alex Michelsen, who defeated countryman Eliot Spizzirri 6-1, 7-5,
6-3.
Tuesday will be remembered for the longest match in U.S. Open
history. After three tiebreakers in the first three sets, Great
Britain's Daniel Evans outlasted Russian 23rd season Karen Khachanov
6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 in five hours, 35 minutes.
Evans trailed 4-0 in the final set before reeling off six games in a
row.
Third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz began his pursuit of a third consecutive
Grand Slam title with a four-set win. The Spaniard downed Australian
qualifier Li Tu 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Alcaraz won 80 percent of his
first-serve points and finished with a 50-19 edge in winners.
No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev, like Sinner, needed four sets to get out
of the first round. He defeated Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-3, 3-6,
6-3, 6-1.
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"Second set, (Dusan) played an amazing level. I
don't think you can play better than he did," Medvedev said. "I was
really tired at the end of the second set. And then I managed to put
some extra pressure on him a little bit. I played aggressive, didn't
face a break point afterwards."
Polish No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz opened his tournament with a 6-3,
7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) win over Kazakh qualifier Timofey Skatov. No. 10
seed Alex de Minaur of Australia prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 over
Marcos Giron. Hurkacz and de Minaur avoided the carnage that befell
several other seeded players in first-round action.
No. 11 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece is already out, as
Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis beat him 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
"That was incredible. ... I expected a war," Kokkinakis said. "It
was physical out there. I have a tendency to drag these matches on
into real long battles. I just tried to stay focused on every
point."
Also, Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic swept past No. 19 Felix
Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; Belgium's David Goffin beat
No. 22 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 7-6 (7), 6-1, 7-5; and Australia's
Christopher O'Connell eliminated No. 26 Nicolas Jarry of Chile.
British 25th seed Jack Draper led 6-3, 6-0, 4-0 when Chinese
opponent Zhizhen Zhang retired. No. 16 seed Sebastian Korda, No. 24
Arthur Fils of France, No. 30 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy and No. 31
Flavio Cobolli of Italy also advanced.
Other winners Tuesday were Australians Tristan Schoolkate, Jordan
Thompson and Max Purcell; Argentina's Facundo Diaz Acosta and
Mariano Navone; Nuno Borges of Portugal; Tomas Machac of the Czech
Republic; Frenchman Adrian Mannarino; Russia's Roman Safiullin;
Finland's Otto Virtanen; Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands;
Hungary's Fabian Marozsan; Canada's Gabriel Diallo; and Italy's
Mattia Bellucci.
--Field Level Media
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