US Open 2024 Men’s Day 6

Top seed Jannik Sinner took full advantage of  his strengthening position at the US Open, with the Italian booking a second-week spot with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2  defeat of Chris O’Connell on Saturday.

Both second-seeded holder Novak Djokovic and third seed Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the previous 48 hours, leaving the 23-year-old Italian as the default title contender here.

Sinner pounded 46 winners aas he domininated his third-round match, now standing 36-0 versus . players ranked outside Top 20 this season.

He has reached the Grand Slam fourth round at all four majors for the second time in his career.

The Italian said the exits of his two main rivals are not a surprise.

““It shows that the sport is unpredictable. Whenever you drop your level a bit.. tennis-wise or if it’s mental or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result. 

“Both opponents they lost against played some incredible tennis. It happens. I just watch my side and what I have to do. We’ll see what I can do. That’s it.”

He was also pleased with his own showing: “I’m happy about the performance today. Day by day I feel like my level has been better, 

“I’m so happy about that. Let’s see what’s coming the next round.”

The dream of Botic van de Zandschulp ended one round after his upset of Alcaraz, with the Dutchman falling 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to Jack Draper.

The Brit sealed it with a forehand winner to move into a Monday contest against Czech Tomas Machac, who booked his own place by defeating Belgian veteran David Goffin 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

He is into the second week here for a second consecutive year, sagine nine of 10 break points in victory.

BVDZ showed his nerves, hitting five straight double-faults across two games late in the match.

Draper called his effort “pretty solid,” adding: “I was a bit lethargic at the start. I thought it was tough. I’m still learning how to play five sets almost. 

“I have to kind of pace myself in these matches because it is potentially a very long match. 

“But I thought I did a really good job overall, and my performance and everything I think got better as the match went on.”  

The 14th seeded Tommy Paul had to battle to get past Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (3) after three and a half hours.

The American joined compatriots Taylor Fritz, Brandon Nakashima and Frances Tiafoe in the last 16 at the home event.

His next target will be top seed Sinner.

The diallo match featured a massive 14 breaks of serve from 35 chances, with Paul surprised by the statistic.

“They were roller-coasters in the first and fourth sets, I’m just happy to get through that one.

“I was not expecting so many breaks of serve. I tried to change things, give him some different looks.

“But he returned a lot better than I thought he would. It was super-tricky with way more breaks than either of us would have liked.”