Sinner secures safe passage at US Open as Swiatek rolls on

NEW YORK : Jannik Sinner reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open, avoiding the fate as his main rivals, while fellow top seed Iga Swiatek gained momentum in her bid for a sixth Grand Slam title after a pep talk from Serena Williams on Saturday.

With defending champion Novak Djokovic forced out by a shock loss to Alexei Popyrin in the third round on Friday and another title contender, Carlos Alcaraz, stunned by Botic van de Zandschulp in round two a day earlier, all eyes were on Sinner.

The Italian, who has managed the intense scrutiny following a doping controversy in the build-up to the tournament, thumped Christopher O'Connell 6-1 6-4 6-2 to underline his credentials as the outright favourite at the year's final major.

"This sport is unpredictable, no? Whenever you drop a little bit of your level, you know, if it's mental, if it's tennis-wise or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result," Sinner said about the exits of Djokovic and Alcaraz.

"Both opponents who they lost against played incredible tennis. And it happens.

"So I just watch on my side what I have to do, you know, that I guess I've done, and then we'll see what I can do."

Up next for the Australian Open champion is Tommy Paul, who is among a group of players keen to end a 21-year American wait for a homegrown major winner, since Andy Roddick claimed the title in New York.

Paul, the 14th seed, recovered from a first-set wobble to overcome Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 7-6(3).

His compatriot and sixth seed Jessica Pegula advanced in the women's draw with a 6-3 6-3 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, but Ashlyn Krueger crashed 6-1 6-1 to Liudmila Samsonova.

'POSITIVE ENERGY'

French Open champion Swiatek later swatted aside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova