Top seed Jannik Sinner becomes the heavy favourite to win the US Open after Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic suffer early defeats.
A build-up fraught with drama and controversy has seen Jannik Sinner respond only with calmness.
Since cleared of any wrongdoing, Sinner twice tested positive for the banned substance Clostebol in March.
With the likes of Nick Kyrgios furious over Sinner’s escaped ban, the Italian has remarkably managed to block out the noise and successfully manage his role as the top seed.
Having remained untroubled so far, Sinner cruised past Australia’s Christopher O’Connell in straight sets to set up a compelling match against America’s Tommy Paul.
Jannik Sinner remains focused despite Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz upsets
The three are responsible for all the major titles this year, as well as Olympic gold and silver, and three Masters 1000 titles.
With Sinner’s latest win in Cincinnati, the two Olympics campaigns of Djokovic and Alcaraz look to have impacted their form.
Reflecting on their exits, Sinner said on court after his win: “As we see anything can happen in this sport. I try to stay on my side of the net. Taking it day by day.
”Each opponent is a tough challenge. Trying to enjoy every moment on the court. There have been a couple of upsets. Let’s see what’s coming. I’m happy to still be here and hopefully play as many matches as possible.”
Alcaraz admitted where he went wrong in his early defeat, while Djokovic was similarly frank about his loss to Alexei Popyrin.
Tommy Paul will be Jannik Sinner’s toughest US Open test so far
The early rounds rather predictably did not see Sinner stretched too much, despite a dodgy first set in his opening match against Mackenzie McDonald.
From round three to four, Paul faces a player 142 ranking spots above, with the American beating qualifier Gabriel Diallo in the third round.
Despite dropping the first set, Paul quickly regained control, and with American tennis flying high, is one of four US representatives left in the draw.
After winning the title at Queens before defeat to Alcaraz at Wimbledon, Paul has been playing his best tennis of late, despite two blips in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Sinner edges the head-to-head by one, having won the third ever encounter on the Canadian hard courts last year.
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