Jannik Sinner advanced to the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday, extending an unusual streak in his Grand Slam record. The world No. 1 overcame Denis Shapovalov in four sets, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to move through at Flushing Meadows.

Sinner dropped the opening set but recovered to take the next three, sealing passage into the tournament’s fourth round. The victory left the top-ranked player unbeaten in third-round matches at Grand Slam events, a specific run that now stands at 18-0.

SINNER IN THIRD-ROUND MATCHES AT GRAND SLAMS: 18-0

The scoreline of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 is the recorded result from the third-round meeting with Denis Shapovalov. That outcome ensured Sinner would continue in the US Open draw and preserved his perfect record in this particular stage of Grand Slam competition.

Taylor Townsend has turned a long, stop-start career into a striking return to the later stages of a major. The 29-year-old Chicago native, who won the junior Australian Open at 15 in 2012 and became the first American in 30 years to finish a season No. 1 in the girls’ rankings, beat No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 to reach the round of 16.

“I wasn’t searching for anything, I wasn’t looking, trying to find answers,” Townsend said after the victory. “I had all the answers in here.”

Townsend’s path has been uneven. In 2012 the USTA told her to sit out both the US Open girls’ and women’s events because of her weight. Since then she has climbed into the Top 100 and fallen out of the Top 300 multiple times. She has reinvented herself, though, as a top-level doubles player: she is a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion and reached the mixed final last year with Donald Young. “Standing here today with Donald means the world to me because he’s been in my life forever,” she said.

Against Andreeva, Townsend kept control when her opponent threatened a second-set comeback, selecting when to attack and finishing key points. “I’m a totally different person than I was in 2019, and I think that that showed,” Townsend said of the match. “I was so confident and so sure of myself and what I was doing and how I was executing, that it didn’t matter if I hit the back fence, hit the bottom of the net, it didn’t matter. I just kept going.”

The crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium rallied behind her after a confrontation earlier in the tournament with Jelena Ostapenko, who had criticized Townsend’s behavior during a warm-up. Townsend said she did not know if Ostapenko’s comments had “racial overtones.”—”that’s something she can speak on.” “If my son were to see this interaction, how would he view it? I think he would be proud of the way that I handled the situation.” Ostapenko issued an apology on Saturday.

Townsend now faces Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday, a player who won their only previous match in 2017. “That’s what’s really cool about tennis in these moments—you’re able to reflect and look even at the mannerisms and how I carried myself then and now, you’ll be able to see it’s a different woman.”

Mats Wilander has pointed to Carlos Alcaraz as the player to beat at this year’s US Open, citing the Spaniard’s form through three rounds and a level of focus that has impressed the former world No 1. “Alcaraz is playing extremely well,” said Wilander. “He’s unbelievably focused, the movement is just so good it seems impossible to hit the ball past him. “His forehand, he said himself is not perfect, to me it looks pretty perfect, and he is serving well. “Early in the tournament, for once, he looks like the man to beat.”

Alcaraz reached the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 win over Lucas Darderi, having not dropped a set in his prior matches. He entered the tournament having won 30 of his last 31 matches, his only recent loss coming to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final.

Sinner, the defending champion, remains a favourite for many and, like Alcaraz, had not dropped a set at this stage of the event.

Alcaraz will next meet world No 82 Arthur Rinderknech, who recovered from a set down to Benjamin Bonzi. Earlier in the tournament Rinderknech had survived a five-set match with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The world No 2 has beaten Rinderknech on three occasions, two of those matches going the distance. Their closest meeting finished 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) at Queen’s Club in 2023, a result that helped propel Alcaraz to his first Wimbledon title.

“Rinderknech has a big serve and big game,” analysed the Swede. “He can rush Alcaraz, maybe take the second serve return and come to the net, maybe hit the ball really hard down the middle and come to the net, do something that will surprise Alcaraz. “I think he has a chance to at least win a set.”

Alcaraz has a history of strong results at the US Open, reaching the quarter-finals on his first appearance at 18 and winning the title in 2022, but his straight-set defeat last year to Botic Van de Zandschulp has remained a point of reference. “I’m just trying not to do the same things as last year,” Alcaraz analysed. “Trying to improve and do the things much better. Every time that I step on the court, I’m just locked in from the first point until the last one. “I’m taking last year as motivation coming into this year, be more hungry, ambitious to do great things here. “This is a place that I love playing. The energy is crazy, so I’m just trying to feel the love and the energy from the people much more and playing as much matches as I can, that motivates me.”

On Rinderknech, Alcaraz added: “He’s really difficult to play against, really aggressive, big serve, trying to go to the net. “So it’s going to be really difficult, but as I said, I’m just trying to be focused on myself, that I’m playing great tennis, and I’m feeling really comfortable physically, mentally, and just feeling the ball really well. “I will try to think just about my goals, about myself, and let’s see, but it’s going to be a really interesting one.”