By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Defending U.S. Open champion Jannik Sinner effortlessly took out Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-2 6-2 to make the third round of the Grand Slam on Thursday and send out an ominous warning to his title rivals in New York.
The metronomic world number one, looking to become the first man to retain the trophy at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer won the last of his five crowns in 2008, was expected to face a tricky test against a tenacious opponent but romped to victory.
Sinner’s 23rd consecutive match victory at the hardcourt Grand Slams improved his overall record to 41-9, matching the mark of Swiss great Federer in his first 50 matches on the surface at the majors.
“Obviously, I try to play the best tennis I can,” said Sinner, who plays Canadian 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in the next round.
“The first round matches are always different compared to the further you go (in the tournament). I’m very happy that I managed these matches as good as I could, when you are up two sets and a break, you try to serve as best as you can.
“Today it felt like neither of us served well but I was returning well, especially on the second serve. I’m happy about today, I’m aiming to improve on the serve but the rest (of my game), I’m quite comfortable with.”
Popyrin, who arrived at Arthur Ashe Stadium hoping to knock out the holder for a second successive year after toppling Novak Djokovic 12 months ago, landed in a world of trouble early on when Sinner forged a 4-1 lead with a reflexive return.
Sinner wrapped up the opening set on serve and then had the bandages on his right foot trimmed by a physio during the break, before the 24-year-old promptly resumed his mission to scythe down his 36th-ranked opponent in the second set.
The top seed forced an error from Popyrin’s racket for an early break and although he faced some resistance while serving in the sixth game, comfortably took the second frame by trading his powerful hitting for a soft drop at the net on set point.
Popyrin’s win over Sinner in their only previous meeting at the 2021 Madrid Open began to look increasingly irrelevant when he fell behind in the third, before his opponent put him out of his misery with a thunderous ace.
The usually understated Sinner, who is aiming to go level on five Grand Slam trophies with his charismatic title rival Carlos Alcaraz, will now have a day to recover and said he had a number of Italian restaurants in mind to indulge his appetite.
“I’m not superstitious,” Sinner said.
“I know some good Italian places here and I have three or four restaurants that we switch between. New York provides great restaurants and the people are very nice.
“Thank you again for the support and we’ll see how it goes in the next round.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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