NEW YORK — Jannik Sinner looked fully recovered from a recent illness as he started his US Open title defense Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Vit Kopriva.
The top-ranked Sinner had to stop playing in the Cincinnati final against Carlos Alcaraz on Aug. 18 because he was sick, pulled out of the US Open mixed doubles tournament that began the next day and said he still wasn’t quite feeling 100 percent late last week.
But he had extra time to recover with first-round matches now spread over three days with the tournament’s new Sunday start. He certainly showed no signs of the virus when he rolled through his 28-year-old Czech opponent, who was making his US Open main draw debut, in 1 hour, 39 minutes.
“Obviously very happy that I’m healthy again, that we did our best to be in the best possible shape here,” Sinner said.
Sinner did appear at times to be bothered by a taped blister on his right ring finger, but the injury did not affect his play, as his four dropped games tied his second fewest in a major match. (He conceded only three games in his third-round match against Jiri Lehecka at the French Open.)
Sinner didn’t lose any of his 11 service games and won 83% of his first-serve points, saving two break points.
The 24-year-old Italian earned his second Grand Slam title when he beat Taylor Fritz last year in Flushing Meadows, then went on to add two more this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He is trying to join Rod Laver, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to reach the final of all four Grand Slams in the same year in the Open era, which began in 1968.
“Obviously, every year is different,” said Sinner, sporting the white arm sleeve he began wearing after hurting his elbow in a fall during Wimbledon. “You come here starting this tournament, hopefully, the best possible way — which I did.”
He had won 26 straight matches on hard courts before the Cincinnati final, and extended his win streak at hard-court majors to 22 matches, the sixth-longest streak by any man all-time.
No man has collected two in a row at the US Open since Federer’s five straight titles from 2004 to 2008, before he lost in the 2009 final to Juan Martin del Potro.
Sinner was asked why that might be.
“We are heading towards end of the season, so some players, they are tired. Some players, they are feeling different. Many things can change. It’s also the last big trophy of the year. … I always say that the future is unpredictable,” he said. “So I don’t know what’s going to happen this time.”
Either Sinner or Alcaraz, who have combined to win the past seven major titles, can own the top ATP ranking after these 15 days.
But first, up next for Sinner in the second round is Alexei Popyrin, a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) winner over Emil Ruusuvuori.
Popyrin knocked out the defending US Open champion in Djokovic last year in the third round. No man has ever knocked out the US Open defending champ in back-to-back years in the Open era; the last man to beat the defending champion in back-to-back years at any major was Sam Querrey at Wimbledon (defeated Djokovic in 2016 third round, defeated Andy Murray in 2017 quarterfinals).
Joining Sinner in advancing Tuesday was Italian Lorenzo Musetti; the No. 10 seed needed four sets but ultimately got past France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
In other men’s singles first-round results, No. 27 Denis Shapovalov defeated Marton Fucsovics in straight sets, while No. 19 Francisco Cerúndolo had to rally from a two-set deficit before prevailing against Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3. It’s the first time Cerúndolo has rallied from two sets down to win a best-of-five match.
No. 23 Alexander Bublik eliminated 2014 champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
