Jannik Sinner trying to stay on his ‘side of the net’ after rivals exit US Open
Jannik Sinner has reacted to the defeats of both his biggest rivals Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, as the World No.1 continued his US Open campaign in comfortable fashion.
Sinner beat Australian Christopher O’Connell, 6-1 6-4 6-2, on Arthur Ashe Stadium and hit a total of 46 winners in the process.
The Italian also won 82% of his first serve points, something that he seemed please with when speaking after the match, “For sure, today was a great match. I knew I had to play very solid throughout the whole match. We played a few times.
“The serve was working well today. I’m happy about my performance. Obviously thanks everyone for the support. It’s been amazing.”
Over the past few days the men’s draw has significantly opened up, with both second seed Djokovic and third seed Alcaraz facing shock defeats.
And Sinner was asked about his rivals exits in the on-court interview, “Everything can happen in this sport, so I try to stay on my side of the net and I’m trying to take [the tournament] day by day. Each opponent is a very tough challenge and [I am] also enjoying every moment on the court. There have been already a couple of upsets, so let’s see what’s coming.
“But I’m very happy to still be here and hopefully I can play as many matches as possible. But as I said, we go day by day and then we’ll see how it goes.”
He later added in his press conference, “Whenever you drop a little bit of your level, you know, if it’s mental, if it’s tennis-wise or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result. Both opponents who they [Djokovic and Alcaraz] lost against, they played some incredible tennis. And it happens.”
Into week two @usopen 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/JiqtepOTTx
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) September 1, 2024
Sinner will now have a days rest before playing American No.2 Tommy Paul tomorrow, in his first match against a seed at the US Open this year.
Inside the baseline…
Jannik Sinner is really looking like he is finding his groove at the tournament, after making a slow start in the first round. The draw has hugely worked in Sinner’s favour after both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s defeats, but there are still some big threats remaining including Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and his next opponent Tommy Paul, who will have most of the support from the American crowd.
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