New York (AFP) – World number one Jannik Sinner opens his bid for back-to-back US Open titles on Tuesday as former champions Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff set out to reclaim the women’s crown at Flushing Meadows. Italy’s Sinner headlines the day three action when he faces unseeded Czech Vit Kopriva at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sinner has won two of this season’s three Grand Slams, the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while also reaching the final of the French Open in June where he lost an epic to Carlos Alcaraz in a fifth-set tiebreak.
The 24-year-old defending champion is a heavy favourite in New York, where he is aiming to become the first man to repeat since Roger Federer capped a remarkable run of five straight championships in 2008. His preparations for the US Open were blown off course last week when illness forced him to retire while trailing 5-0 to Alcaraz in the Cincinnati Open final. Sinner said subsequently he was still “not 100 percent” but expected to be fully recovered for Tuesday’s opener.
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The Italian’s US Open victory last year came despite a doping scandal which exploded on the eve of the tournament. He initially escaped a ban after testing positive for an anabolic steroid at Indian Wells earlier in 2024. Sinner eventually agreed to a three-month suspension, served earlier this year, despite doping authorities accepting that he had been inadvertently contaminated. The Italian says he has turned the page on that controversy and was fully focused on victory in New York.
“I feel like it’s over,” Sinner said. “We are focusing on hard work again and trying to get better as an athlete. I’m very happy to be back here. It’s obviously the last Grand Slam we have for this season so the motivations are very high.”
Poland’s Swiatek, the 2022 champion, will be looking to extend her impressive recent form when she faces unseeded Emiliana Arango in the first round. The second seed, once viewed as a clay-court specialist, has developed her all-round game this season, with results indicating she is increasingly comfortable on faster surfaces. She warmed up with victory at the WTA Cincinnati Open hard-court tournament, which followed her breakthrough win on the grass of Wimbledon in July.
The 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff, seeded three, gets under way against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in a night game on Arthur Ashe. On Monday, Sinner’s rival Alcaraz opened his campaign with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 straight-sets defeat of unseeded American Reilly Opelka.
© 2024 AFP
