NEW YORK: Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner flashed their No. 1 form on Thursday with powerful performances that moved them into the third round of the US Open.
Carlos Alcaraz and Naomi Osaka couldn’t quite find the games that once had them on top of the rankings.
Those past US Open champions were both knocked out Thursday night, with the No. 3-seeded Alcaraz’s 15-match Grand Slam winning streak halted by a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 loss to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.
Swiatek raced by Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-0, 6-1, finishing off the match in 65 minutes. It took the 2022 US Open champion longer than that to play the second set of her first-round match, when she needed a tiebreaker that she eventually closed out in 72 minutes.
“I just felt the rhythm was much better,” Swiatek said. “I was a bit tense in my last match, so today I just wanted to focus on the right things.”
Earlier, Sinner downed Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in 1 hour, 39 minutes.
But on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court at night, Osaka’s forehand faltered in key moments and the two-time US Open champion was eliminated by Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Sinner dropped the first set in his opening match in New York but didn’t encounter much trouble while facing his second straight American on Ashe. The Italian earned his 50th victory of the season, including his ATP Tour-leading 30th on hard courts.
His previous one was a little shaky after a slow start against Mackie McDonald, so Sinner got in a practice session after that match and was happy with the results Thursday.
“Trying to keep going, trying to understand what works here best on these courts. Let’s see what I can do in the next round,” he said.
That will be against Christopher O’Connell of Australia on Saturday.
No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, moved into the third round along with No. 10 Alex de Minaur, who will next face Dan Evans. Evans’ victory in a tidy 2 hours, 37 minutes was three hours quicker than it took him to beat Karen Khachanov in the first round, their match setting a US Open record by lasting 5 hours, 35 minutes.
Sinner beat Michelsen for the second time this month, having also won a second-round match in Cincinnati shortly before it was revealed that he tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March.
Another Italian, Jasmine Paolini, played just three points before advancing when Karolina Pliskova appeared to injure her left foot. The No. 5-seeded Paolini, who has reached the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon in her breakout season, advanced past the second round of the US Open for the first time.
“Finally, we made third round!” she said with a laugh during an interview on the court.
Paolini will next play No. 30 seed Yulia Putintseva.
Other women’s winners included No. 6 Jessica Pegula, No. 15 Anna Kalinskaya, No. 16 Liudmilla Samsonova and No. 18 Diana Shnaider. Pegula took out fellow American Sofia Kenin.
But No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, withdrew from the tournament before her second-round match with a lower back injury, sending French qualifier Jessika Ponchet to the weekend.
“Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from my match today due to my injuries,” Rybakina said in a statement. “I did not want to finish the last Grand Slam of the year this way but I have to listen to my body, and I hope I can close out the remainder of the year strong.”
No. 7 seed Hurbert Hurkacz was eliminated in straight sets by Jordan Thompson, and No. 16 Sebastian Korda was knocked out by Tomas Machac.
