Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka honored their status as title contenders by securing easy victories on Thursday in the second round of the US Open where Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev will try in the evening to take a step closer to a reunion in the semis. The day was marked by the abandonment due to injury of Matteo Berrettini who badly twisted his ankle in the second set of his match against Arthur Rinderknech.
The Frenchman was leading the match 6-4, 5-3 when the Italian got injured. At 28, Rinderknech had never passed the second round in a Grand Slam tournament. He will face either his compatriot Gaël Monfils (162nd) or the Russian Andrey Rublev (8th) on Saturday. For Berrettini, who accumulates injuries, it’s a new blow. He had wrist surgery in March 2022, missing the clay-court season. Then he forfeited just before his first round at Wimbledon for a positive covid test. This year, he has already retired in Acapulco, then in Monte-Carlo due to an abdominal injury which again caused him to miss the season on earth.
But Italy can count on an armada in which its spearhead Sinner (6th) made short work of his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego (39th) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. “It’s a very good performance, judged Sinner. It was a bit windy so it wasn’t so easy to play, but I felt really good on the court. I ended up with a fairly good percentage on serve (55% of first serves and 89% success on points played on his first serve, editor’s note) and that was very important. And my comeback also worked very, very well,” he said.
He will be opposed in the third round to the Argentinian Thomas Etcheverry (34th) or the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (49th), winner in 2016. In his sights, Sinner has a potential revenge in the quarters against Alcaraz who had released him at this stage. last year. So the Italian underlines that his quick victory, which is more at the start of the program, will give him more recovery time: “I have almost the whole day today and tomorrow to rest”, he said. raised. Alcaraz will play in the evening, from 7:00 p.m. (GMT-4), against the South African Lloyd Harris. Just like Medvedev who would see himself preventing a new final between Carlitos and Novak Djokovic. He will have to start by dismissing the Australian Christopher O’Connell (69th) on Thursday.
At Wimbledon, Medvedev did not weigh heavily in the semis against Alcaraz. But this time, the clash would take place on the hard surface, the favorite surface of the Russian who won the US Open 2021 by beating Djokovic in the final. In the women’s draw, Sabalenka (2nd) quietly disposed of Briton Jodie Burrage (96th) 6-3, 6-2. At Flushing Meadows, the 25-year-old Belarusian is not only aiming for a second Grand Slam title, but also the world No.1 spot that she could steal from defending champion Iga Swiatek. “Becoming N.1 is an opportunity that presents itself. I don’t think about it much, even if it’s a dream that I will do everything to achieve,” commented Sabalenka.
Winner of the Australian Open in January, she will face the French Clara Burel (62nd) on Saturday to try to climb to the round of 16 of the American Major, the semi-finals of which she had played in the last two editions. Burel beat the Czech Karolina Pliskova (25th) 6-4, 6-2 to equal her best result in New York.
In addition, the American Michael Mmoh (89th) put an end to the career of his compatriot John Isner (157th). But the giant (2.08m), who had announced that this tournament would be the last, defended himself until the super tie-break of the fifth set before losing 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-6 (10/7). “It’s hard,” responded Isner, tears in his eyes to a standing ovation from the spectators at the Grandstand, Flushing Meadows’ third largest court. “It’s to be able to play in front of audiences like that that I’ve worked as hard as I could all my life. It is truly exceptional”.
