Sinner Cruises, Swiatek Struggles at US Open as Osaka Condemns Ostapenko Remarks

Defending US Open men’s champion Jannik Sinner continued his dominant run on Thursday, storming into the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Australia’s Alexei Popyrin. The Italian top seed extended his hard court Grand Slam winning streak to 23 matches, solidifying his bid to become the first back-to-back US Open men’s winner since Roger Federer’s five-title streak from 2004 to 2008.

“I’m very happy that I managed these matches as good as I could,” said Sinner, who has dropped just four games across his opening two matches. “I am aiming to improve on the serve, but the rest I am quite comfortable with.”

Next up, Sinner faces Canada’s 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, Italian 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti equaled his best US Open run with a victory over David Goffin, and Russian 15th seed Andrey Rublev defeated American wild card Tristan Boyer in four sets to set up a clash with Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong. Wong, ranked 173rd, continued his historic run by becoming the first man from Hong Kong to win a Grand Slam singles match, defeating Adam Walton in four sets.

The biggest upset of the day saw ninth seed Karen Khachanov blow a two-set lead to lose in five sets to Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak.

On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek faced a surprising challenge against the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens, needing three sets to secure a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win.

“It wasn’t the easiest match. It got a bit complicated in the second set, but I’m happy that I could reset and start playing better in the third,” said Swiatek, who now faces 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya for a place in the last 16.

Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion, has won 16 of her last 17 matches, riding momentum from titles at Wimbledon and Cincinnati.

Naomi Osaka, a two-time US Open winner, looked sharp in a 6-3, 6-1 win over Hailey Baptiste, but made headlines off-court by condemning Jelena Ostapenko for comments made to Taylor Townsend during a heated second-round match.

“It’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport,” said Osaka. “I know Taylor and I know how hard she’s worked and how smart she is… I know she’s never going to say that ever again in her life.”

Ekaterina Alexandrova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Linda Noskova were among the other women’s seeds to advance Thursday, while Coco Gauff and Alexander Zverev were scheduled for the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.