Jannik Sinner continues to make his case as the top favorite to win the 2024 US Open by adding more and more impressive wins.
The Italian had already arrived in New York with a good chance of winning, but he received a significant boost in recent days. First, Carlos Alcaraz lost early, removing himself from contention.
One day after that, Novak Djokovic was upset by Alexei Popyrin, meaning another favorite was removed from the potential winner's pool. So now the list of favorites is down to Sinner and a few other notable names like Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.
The Italian has looked the most impressive so far with sensational wins in the first few rounds. He added yet another against Christopher O'Connell, who can be a really tricky player to play against.
None of that mattered as the World No. 1 came out aggressive and dominant and smashed any hopes of an upset fairly quickly. He won the first set 6-1 behind five aces and 13 winners overall.
The Australian player was left speechless after most rallies. He just couldn't believe what was happening on the other side of the net, as Sinner looked unchallenged by any of what he was trying to do.
The second set was quite a bit more competitive because O'Connell did a better job of countering Sinner. He served a bit better in crucial moments and was more aggressive with more success.
He actually tripled his amount of winners from the opening set to nine while limiting his unforced errors. Sinner, of course, still remained overwhelming, totaling 22 winners in the second set.
The Italian is just very hard to counter. Players have to be aggressive and outhit him from the baseline, but that's very hard to do. There are only a couple of players who can do that, and O'Connell is not one of them.
He tried his best and had success at times, but over the course of a few games and a few sets, he couldn't stay consistent enough. Their winner and unforced error ratio paint a pretty clear picture of why.
O'Connell also couldn't create any kind of pressure because Sinner served too well. The top seed totaled double-digit aces and just converted points on his serve regularly.
The Australian didn't see a single break point in this match. An early break in the final set simply steered the set to its logical conclusion as the Italian remained calm throughout the match.
This will remain so until he faces one of the other contenders because nobody in the draw can keep up with him at the moment. Not when he's playing on this level, and there doesn't seem to be any signs of him losing it anytime soon.
He calmly brought his match to the finish line, keeping the match a straight-sets win. The final score was 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, and he booked a place in the second week.
Jannik Sinner vs Chrsiterophs O'Connell Match Stats:
| Jannik Sinner | Christopher O'Connell | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Aces | 5 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 4 |
| 66% | First Serve % | 57% |
| 81% (35/43) | Points Won After First Serve % | 57% (26/46) |
| 68% (15/22) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 43% (15/35) |
| 50% (5/10) | Break Point Conversion | 0% (0/0) |
| 44 | Winners | 17 |
| 22 | Unforced Errors | 24 |
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