Women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek lost just one game as she ruthlessly dispatched Japan’s Ena Shibahara to reach the third round of the US Open.
Swiatek, champion at Flushing Meadows in 2022, was given a test by lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova in round one before coming through 6-4 7-6 but the Pole made light work of Shibahara and will next face either Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Shibahara won the second game of the second set to avoid the double bagel but was beaten in just over an hour.
Swiatek said: “I was trying to be really solid and picked the right shots. I was proactive and am happy with everything.
“I was a bit tense in my last match so I just wanted to focus on the right things, focus on myself and what I want to do.
“I wasn’t really thinking about the score. Sometimes when it goes quick, your mind can drift off and you feel too safe, so I was trying to stay in the zone. It didn’t matter if it was 6-0 or 3-3.”
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Highlights of Jannik Sinner’s win over Alex Michelsen in New York
Men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner also progressed in routine fashion, comfortably beating young American hopeful Alex Michelsen in straight sets.
Sinner dropped only six games as he triumphed 6-4 6-0 6-2 against the 20-year-old, who battled hard in the first set but faded badly over the final two.
In the early exchanges, Michelsen twice came back from a break down against Sinner, levelling things up at 4-4 the second time before the Italian finally pulled clear.
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Michelsen hit a crazy return against Sinner
Sinner found another gear in the second set, bageling his young opponent as he rattled off eight games in a row.
Michelsen briefly rallied in the third before Sinner earned the decisive break for a 3-2 lead, going on to close out the match inside 100 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sinner will face Christopher O’Connell in the next round after the Australian beat Italy’s Mattia Bellucci 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3.
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With temperatures soaring at Flushing Meadows, Colin Fleming explains exactly how the heat rule is being implemented to protect players
Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz and 16th seed Sebastian Korda were dumped out, though, losing to Jordan Thompson and Tomas Machac respectively early on day four.
Hurkacz was beaten 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 7-5 as Thompson set up a third-round meeting with Italian 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi, while Machac will now take on David Goffin or Adrian Mannarino,
Teenager Mirra Andreeva was a casualty in the women’s singles with the 21st seed ousted 6-1 6-4 by USA’s Ashley Krueger, but fifth seed Jasmine Paolini advanced after opponent Karolina Pliskova withdrew through injury.
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