NEW YORK — Former champion Carlos Alcaraz was dumped out of the US Open in a stunning straight-sets defeat by world number 74 Botic van de Zandschulp, while top seeds Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek moved on to the third round with little fuss.
Spanish third seed Alcaraz was fully expected to extend his 15-match winning streak at the Grand Slams but the Wimbledon and French Open champion got off to a horrible start and never recovered, going down 6-1 7-5 6-4 in the second round.
Sinner converted eight of his 16 break-point chances en route to dispatching Michelsen in 99 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium for his ATP Tour-leading 30th hard-court win of 2024.
“I feel like I can improve still a couple of things,” the 23-year-old Sinner said during his on-court interview.
“But you have to be obviously very happy to be in the next round and so I’m just trying to get better as a player,” he added according to Reuters.
In the early goings Michelsen proved up for the challenge as he twice came back from a break down in the first set, but when Sinner broke a third time for a 5-4 lead he promptly closed out the tighly-contested frame on serve.
Sinner found another gear in the second set and had a much easier time as he raced out to a 3-0 double-break lead to seize control and never looked back as Michelsen’s serve suddenly abandoned him and his unforced errors started to pile up.
Michelsen made an encouraging start to the third set but Sinner remained all business and continued applying pressure, eventually earning the decisive break for a 3-2 lead and going on to serve out the match with a routine hold.
The victory was in stark contrast when compared to their first meeting two weeks ago during the second round of a US Open tune-up event in Cincinnati where Sinner prevailed in two close sets en route to lifting the title.
“Very happy to be through against a very tough opponent,” Sinner said on court after his win. “We played each other in Cincinnati … so I knew a little bit what to expect. I think also he knew a little bit what to expect.”
Jessica Pegul’s 7-6 (4), 6-3 second-round victory over Sofia Kenin was her 11th in 12 matches after winning the title in Toronto and reaching the final in Cincinnati.
The 1,650 ranking points she received at those 1000 events vaulted her into the No.7 spot (from No.20) in the PIF race to the WTA Finals.
“I think once you get here and if you’ve had good results here especially or you like the hard courts players that play well here will find a way to do that, I think no matter what.”
It was an intriguing matchup with Kenin because the two players have similar games with a steady dose of low, flat shots from the baseline. The win broke a 2-all head-to-head stalemate, but was their first meeting in more than three years.
This match was decided by the thinnest of margins. Pegula converted one more break point than Kenin and had a plus-six in winners/unforced errors, while Kenin was minus-three.
The first set was all over the place, with the players breaking each other twice in the first six games. It was eventually resolved in a tiebreak, where Pegula was clearly the steadier player.
Kenin was serving at 2-3 in the second set when a double fault gave Pegula the decisive break.
Pegula is a certified flag-waving, born-in-the-USA athlete after competing at the Olympics in both singles and doubles. But when it comes to her fellow Americans, well, she has shown no mercy. After defeating Kenin, Pegula is now 11-0 against opponents playing for the United States.
She has reached six career Grand Slam quarterfinals, but never advanced further.
“It would be frickin’ awesome if I won a Grand Slam,” Pegula said. “I definitely allow myself to dream, I always have since I was a kid. So I think you have to take yourself to those moments.
“I would love to be able to say that I accomplished that. That’s always my goal going into a Grand Slam. And if it doesn’t happen, I mean, you just try to put yourself in the best possible space to make it happen.”
