US OPEN: No alarm for Sinner, Swiatek as top seeds ease into quarters

Top seeds Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek continued to blaze a trail through the US Open draws, easing into the quarterfinals of a tournament marked by almost daily upsets with a minimum of fuss.

Bopanna in mixed doubles semis

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Rohan Bopanna and his Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi entered the semifinals of the mixed doubles with a hard-fought win over Australian Matthew Ebden and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. The eighth seeds registered a 7-6(4) 2-6 10-7 win over the fourth seeds in the quarterfinal that lasted one hour and 33 minutes. The duo will play USA’s Donald Young and Taylor Townsend next.

Sinner disappointed a partisan crowd with a 7-6(3) 7-6(5) 6-1 win over Tommy Paul in an entertaining fourth-round tie after Swiatek had beaten Liudmila Samsonova 6-4 6-1 in a more muted atmosphere on the main Arthur Ashe Stadium showcourt.

Italian Sinner barely got a look at Paul’s serve until the third set but produced his best tennis when it mattered to subdue the effervescent American and move on to a mouth-watering last-eight meeting with 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev. “I can be very proud, it was a tough opponent, so I’m very happy to be in the next round,” said Sinner, who beat Medvedev in Melbourne in January to win his only Grand Slam title.

Russian Medvedev had earlier brushed aside a delay caused by a fire alarm in the building where the Hawkeye line-calling system is housed to pummel Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-0 6-1 6-3.

Like Medvedev, Swiatek is the only former singles champion left in her draw and the Pole hit her impressive stride in a comfortable win over Samsonova. “At the beginning, it wasn’t easy to get the rhythm,” the 2022 champion said. “So I’m happy that I got some matches here and for sure, I’m feeling better every day.”

American fans on Arthur Ashe earlier did have a success to cheer on their Labour Day holiday as Jessica Pegula efficiently disposed of Diana Shnaider 6-4 6-2 to reach the last-eight without dropping a set.

The only minor surprise on the eighth day of the championships came when Karolina Muchova, a semifinalist here last year, ousted Italian fifth seed Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-3. Muchova will next face Beatriz Haddad Maia after the Brazilian produced 40 winners to send former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki packing 6-2 3-6 6-3.