No. 1 seeds Sinner, Swiatek move into the third round at the US Open; Hurkacz and Korda ousted

NEW YORK (AP) — Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner flashed their No. 1 form on Thursday with powerful performances that moved them into the third round of the U.S. Open.

Swiatek raced by Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-0, 6-1, winning the first set in just 23 minutes and finishing off the match in 65. It took the 2022 U.S. Open champion longer than that to play the second set alone in her first-round match, when she needed a tiebreaker that she eventually closed out in 72 minutes.

“I just felt the rhythm was much better,” Swiatek said. “I was a bit tense in my last match, so today I just wanted to focus on the right things.”

Earlier, Sinner downed Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in 1 hour, 39 minutes.

Sinner dropped the first set in his opening match in New York but didn’t encounter much trouble facing his second straight American on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Italian earned his 50th victory of the season, including his ATP Tour-leading 30th on hard courts.

Sinner beat Michelsen for the second time this month, having also won a second-round match in Cincinnati shortly before it was revealed that he tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March.

Another Italian, Jasmine Paolini, played just three points before advancing when Karolina Pliskova appeared to injure her left foot. The No. 5-seeded Paolini, who reached the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon in her breakout season, advanced past the second round of the U.S. Open for the first time.

“Finally, we made third round!” she said with a laugh during an interview on the court.

Paolini will next play No. 30 seed Yulia Putintseva.

No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, withdrew from the tournament with an undisclosed injury before her second-round match, sending French qualifier Jessika Ponchet to the weekend.

“Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from my match today due to my injuries,” Rybakina said in a statement. “I did not want to finish the last Grand Slam of the year this way but I have to listen to my body, and I hope I can close out the remainder of the year strong.”

No. 7 seed Hurbert Hurkacz was eliminated in straight sets by Jordan Thompson, and No. 16 Sebastian Korda was knocked out by Tomas Machac.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis