Jannik Sinner began his US Open campaign with a victory. The world No. 1 beat home favourite Mackenzie McDonald 2-6 6-2 6-1 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium, surviving a scare having been a set and a break down in the early stages. He moved through in two hours and 24 minutes, and he faces Winston-Salem finalist Alex Michelsen in the second round.
Jannik Sinner beat Mackenzie McDonald in four sets on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The world No.1 – who was recently cleared of wrongdoing after failing two anti-doping tests – began poorly in the opening set but recovered to win 2-6 6-2 6-1 6-2 in New York.
Sinner, who had never won on Arthur Ashe before this match, was broken four times in his first five service games as McDonald flew out of the blocks, but the Italian regained his composure to hit 38 winners and regain his rhythm on his serve, winning 75% of points behind his first serve.
he Australian Open champion was not at his free-flowing best, and he had to contend with some heavy hitting from the American, who showed fine agility and reach to close out the first set comprehensively.
But Sinner quashed any home hopes of an early upset in the second, finding the angles off both wings to move ahead, before he raced into a 4-0 lead in the fourth.
He needed the second of three match points to close out the encounter, but is safely through to round two, where he faces another American, Alex Michelsen, who is fresh from reaching the final of the Winston-Salem Open.
Sinner, who missed the Paris 2024 Olympics due to tonsilitis, played two tournaments on the American hard-court swing ahead of his arrival at Flushing Meadows, losing to Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open before bouncing back to win in Cincinnati, exacting his revenge on Rublev in the last eight before overcoming Alexander Zverev and Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals and final respectively.
