Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday survived US Open first-round wobbles to stay on course for a semi-final showdown, while two-time champion Naomi Osaka made a tearful and colorful return to Flushing Meadows.
World No. 1 Sinner fought back from a set and break down to defeat 140th-ranked Mackenzie McDonald in his first match since being embroiled in a doping test controversy.
Italian Sinner battled to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win over American opponent McDonald at Arthur Ashe Stadium, racing away with 18 of the last 22 games.
Photo: AFP
The 23-year-old was returning to action just a week after it was revealed he had failed two drug tests in March.
However, he escaped a lengthy ban when officials decided he was not at fault for the presence of banned anabolic agent clostebol in his system.
“The response from fans, I feel it has been great, also throughout when the news came out, in the practice sessions, there was a lot of support,” Sinner said. “It’s still a little bit not easy. You have to go through day by day.”
Alcaraz, the third seed and 2022 champion in New York, overcame a second-set blip to defeat 186th-ranked qualifier Li Tu of Australia 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Alcaraz, who won the first of his four Grand Slam titles in New York in 2022, opened the night session against Tu who has not won a match on the main tour this year.
After being outplayed in the opening set, Tu leveled the tie on a fifth set point in the second, but Alcaraz crushed any hint of a shock result by running away with the clash to record his 15th successive Grand Slam match win.
“He surprised me a little bit. In the first set, he was nervous, but after that he grew into it and played great tennis,” the Spanish star said.
Osaka, who missed last year’s tournament after giving birth to her daughter, Shai, stunned 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Former world No. 1 Osaka, now ranked 88, came through 6-3, 6-2 for her first top-10 win in four years.
The Japanese star crunched nine aces in her 19 winners and committed just five unforced errors to her opponent’s 21.
Her tennis was as striking as her outfit. Osaka arrived on court with a brightly colored, giant bow on the back of her jacket and a frilly skirt over her playing dress.
To complete the ensemble, the 26-year-old attached small bows to the heels of both shoes.
“Last year I was watching Coco [Gauff] play and I so badly wanted to step on these courts again,” said a tearful Osaka, a four-time major winner. “I didn’t know if I could ... just to win this match and just to be in this atmosphere means so much to me.”
Australian Open mixed doubles winners and seventh seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Polish partner Jan Zielinski were last night after press time to play Americans Rajeev Ram and Katie Volynets in the first round of mixed doubles.
In women’s doubles, 10th seeds Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia were after press time last night to play Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Denmark’s Clara Tauson, while Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Australia’s Olivia Gadecki are to face Camila Osorio of Colombia and Alycia Parks of the US.
In other upcoming matches, Hsieh and Belgian partner Elise Mertens are expected to open their women’s doubles campaign against France’s Kristina Mladenovic and China’s Zhang Shuai, while in the mixed doubles, Chan and Krajicek Austin of the US are to play Australia’s Matthew Ebden and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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