World No. 1 Jannik Sinner opened his US Open title defense in a blowout fashion on Tuesday, knocking down unseeded Vit Kopriva from the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. After being sidelined with sickness at the Cincinnati Masters, the Italian was sharp and energetic, serving seven aces and losing only two points on his first serve in the opening set.
Kopriva was not playing well at all, and he even slipped at the very end of the second set before giving a game away with a double fault. Sinner was a bit haphazard in the third set as he committed 9 unforced errors but he went on to neutralize both break points he encountered and he wrapped up the match with perfectly executed backhand.
The crowd at New York was very kind to the four-time major winner, who earlier this year announced he would be suspended for three months due to a doping violation. In the second round, he will have to tackle Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.
On the other hand, two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka made a positive comeback yesterday and she had a very easy match against Belgium’s Greetje Minnen, winning it 6-3, 6-4.
The 23rd seed in this tournament was able to break her opponent’s serve three times in each of the sets and her next opponent will be American Hailey Baptiste. The Japanese star, who has had a hard time regaining her strongest form post-maternity leave, seems to have found her focus again after hiring Tomasz Wiktorowski as her new coach.
The first match of defending champion Coco Gauff, however, was very arduous and she only managed to qualify after a hard-fought 2 hours 59 minutes battle with Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5.
The American, who is the third seed, made 59 unforced errors and 10 double faults, but she fought hard and won. Gauff admits that it had been “mentally exhausting” preparing for the match because of the late coaching change to the specialist in biomechanics Gavin MacMillan, but she insists that she is working on herself every time she gets on the court. She will be up against Donna Vekic from Croatia next.
Since Sinner, Osaka, and Gauff have all advanced, the US Open is getting ready for an exciting second-round play.
