(Reuters) -The U.S. Open continues its second round on Thursday, with defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner facing Alexei Popyrin. Women’s second seed Iga Swiatek plays Suzan Lamens, while Coco Gauff takes on Donna Vekic.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: JANNIK SINNER V ALEXEI POPYRIN
World number one Jannik Sinner hardly missed a beat when he started his U.S. Open title defence with a straight-sets win over Vit Kopriva.
His performance, with seven aces and only one double fault, laid to rest much of the speculation about his health, showing he had recovered well after retiring due to illness during the Cincinnati Open final last week.
However, the 24-year-old Italian now faces Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, who is known for testing his opponents with his power and ability to finish at the net. Popyrin beat Sinner in their only previous meeting in 2021.
“If you want to win these tournaments, you have to beat one of these players at some point,” Popyrin said after winning his first-round match in straight sets. “I know my game, I know how I can play and I know the trouble I can cause, so I’m not really worried about it.”
Sinner said he was ready for whatever challenge came his way in pursuit of a fifth Grand Slam title.
“I feel physically in a good spot… let’s see what’s coming,” he added.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: IGA SWIATEK V SUZAN LAMENS
World number two Iga Swiatek eased to victory against Emiliana Arango in the first round, dropping only three games in a dominant straight-sets win.
With the victory, the 24-year-old Pole also broke Monica Seles’s record for the most consecutive WTA singles opening matches won in the professional era (65), a testament to the six-time Grand Slam winner’s enduring form.
“There are a lot of positive vibes in the team,” Swiatek said after the win.
Suzan Lamens, Swiatek’s next opponent, is also on a high, having reached the second round of the U.S. Open for the first time. The 26-year-old Dutch player won her first WTA title at the Japan Open in October and beat Jelena Ostapenko, then ranked 10th in the world, at last year’s Billie Jean King Cup.
GAUFF STRUGGLES WITH NEW SERVE
Coco Gauff’s push for a second U.S. Open title got off to a rocky start when she served 10 double faults during her hard-fought win over Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round.
World number three Gauff split with her coach Matthew Daly days before the U.S. Open and hired Gavin MacMillan, Aryna Sabalenka’s former serving coach. But the third seed said she was struggling to trust her revamped serve.
“I think it’s all mechanics. The approach is the approach… now it’s just really trusting that new motion in those moments,” Gauff told reporters after Tuesday’s match. “It’s like learning a new language, honestly.”
The battle to overcome old habits adds to the 21-year-old’s challenges when she plays Donna Vekic, the Croatian who knocked her out of the Paris Olympics last year before winning silver. Gauff beat Vekic in December on a hard court at the United Cup in Perth in their only other meeting.
Gauff said she did not know how long it would take for her new serve to become muscle memory.
“It’s been… six days, in a high-stress situation. I would love for this to be a (WTA 500 tournament) that I’m playing but it’s not. So I don’t know. Yeah, we’ll see,” she said.
U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON THURSDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (1530 GMT/1130 AM ET)
Suzan Lamens (Netherlands) v 2-Iga Swiatek (Poland)
1-Jannik Sinner (Italy) v Alexei Popyrin (Australia)
Donna Vekic (Croatia) v 3-Coco Gauff (U.S.)
Nuno Borges (Portugal) v 14-Tommy Paul (U.S.)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM (1500 GMT/11 AM ET)
10-Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) v David Goffin (Belgium)
Hailey Baptiste (U.S.) v 23-Naomi Osaka (Japan)
3-Alexander Zverev (Germany) v Jacob Fearnley (Britain)
9-Amanda Anisimova (U.S.) v Maya Joint (Australia)
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
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