Jannik defeats the Australian 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours of play
Australian threat defused without any problems: Jannik Sinner beats Poyprin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and one minute to qualify for the third round of the US Open, avenging his defeat in Madrid in 2021 in the only previous match between the two. The world No. 36 (but No. 19 at the beginning of August), winner of the 2024 Canadian Masters 1000, thus fails to achieve the feat of becoming the first player in the Open Era to eliminate the defending champion in New York for two consecutive years (in 2024, in fact, he defeated Djokovic in the third round). In the next round, Jannik will face Denis Shapovalov: the Canadian won in four sets against Royer.
On the other hand, finding countermeasures to this Sinner proved almost impossible from the very first points. As expected, the match would be decided by the serve, and Popyrin would need high percentages to prevent Jannik from immediately taking control of the rally. Instead, in the first set, he stopped at 43%, and even when he rose just above 50%, he had to contend with the exceptional numbers of the Red Fox in his response to the second ball. On the other hand, Sinner proves to be extremely dangerous in every round because he is able to take time away from his opponent right from the return and thus hammer away continuously, particularly on Popyrin’s backhand, his weak point. The break that decided the first set came immediately, in the second game, with Sinner earning the break point with a return that immediately forced the Australian into an error. At 30-40, it was Popyrin who made another mistake after an intense rally, with his backhand landing in the net.
Early risks— At the start of the second set, the script remains unchanged: the number one raises the intensity and immediately finds the break in the third game. In the first two points, he again sends Popyrin off balance on the forehand side, then goes up 0-40 with a winning smash and closes the game by forcing his opponent into an impossible defense on the backhand. The only negative note was Jannik’s first serve percentage, which never exceeded 50%. While he managed to compensate with the solidity of his second serve, such poor percentages could bring the Australian back into the game on the return. And so it happens in the sixth game, when Popyrin earns the first three break points of the match, canceled out by the Red Fox with two winning forehands and a second serve ace. The long break that the number one takes after a prolonged rally is perhaps a sign that he is not yet in top physical condition after his bout with the virus, but the concern lasts only a moment: in the next game, having escaped danger, Sinner gets another break and secures the set despite only 38% of first serves in play in the set.
Mission accomplished— At the start of the third set, Sinner still has to save two break points in the third game, which he does thanks to a free forehand from Popyrin and a forced error from the Italian. At deuce, the Australian makes two more errors. Once again, with the danger passed, Jannik unleashes his power: in the fourth game, three unforced errors by Popyrin bring the No. 1 to 0-40, and there Popyrin is overwhelmed by the return and fails to defend with his backhand, stopping at the net. Now it’s all downhill, and the 5-2 break definitively ends the hostilities. For Sinner, this is his 23rd consecutive Slam win on hard court and his 41st in his first 50 Major matches on fast surfaces, seventh all-time (Connors and McEnroe are first with 46-4).
