The courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center are booked solid with enticing matchups today, as the best in the game try to better their chances at capturing tennis’ toughest title. The men’s and women’s top seeds headline the day, as Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek each play third-round matches. Other top talents looking to play their way into round four include 2021 US Open champ Daniil Medvedev, two-time Flushing finalist Caroline Wozniacki, 2024 Roland Garros and Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini, sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula, No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur and No. 14 Tommy Paul
A win today guarantees you court time next week—and you know how hard it is to get court time in New York.
Men’s No. 1 Sinner has won five singles titles in 2024, four of those on hard courts. That includes his first career major title at the Aussie Open in January, where he took out defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semis en route. He is the first Italian man to attain the No. 1 ranking and the first from his country ever to be seeded No. 1 at this event. Sinner, who also reached the semifinals of Roland Garros and the quarters at Wimbledon this year has been as far as the quarters here just once—in 2022—and clearly would like nothing more than to better that mark in what has been a career year. His second-round triumph over American Alex Michelsen gave Sinner 50 wins on the season, second only to Alexander Zverev’s 54. But Sinner stands alone in terms of handling the hard stuff; his 30 wins and four titles are best among men.
Sinner looks to pump up those numbers today against Aussie Christopher O'Connell, whose third-round showing here this year marks his best-ever US Open advance. Only twice before has the 30-year-old Aussie been this far at a major—reaching Round 3 at both Wimbledon in 2023 and in Melbourne the year before. O’Connell’s career-high ranking is No. 53 (he’s at No. 87 now) and he’s more than capable of planting a seed or two, owning career wins over Sinner, Zverev and Frances Tiafoe.
The two men have split a pair of career meetings, with Sinner winning their most recent encounter in the fourth round of the Miami hard-court event in March. On paper, it’s all Sinner; on cement, it’s slightly less obvious. Give the Aussie a set, but give Sinner the win. In four, the top seed advances.
Few have had a more sizzling season than the women’s No. 5 seed, Paolini, who rocketed into the game’s upper echelon with runs to the finals of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this summer. In a flash, the 28-year-old Italian may be a late bloomer, but there's little doubt that she's now in full blossom and has become a genuine force to be reckoned with, her 17 major wins this year the best among women. That’s not too shabby for a player who’d never before advanced past the second round at any Slam. Paolini set the tone for things to come in January, winning her second career singles crown at the hard-court Dubai event. The diminutive slugger plays a large game, fueled by a ferocity and fearlessness that translates well on the hard floors of Flushing.
Today, the fifth seed squares off with Yulia Putintseva, a 29-year-old veteran talent who was a quarterfinalist here in 2020. Putintseva, the No. 30 seed, is a three-time major quarterfinalist, having also reached that stage at Roland Garros in 2016 and 2018. The Kazakhstani won the grass-court Birmingham crown this summer—her third career singles title—then backed that up with a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, planting top seed Swiatek along the way. Earlier this month, she beat Coco Gauff in the second round of Cincinnati before losing to Paula Badosa in round three.
The two women have met just once, with Paolini claiming a three-sets win in the semis of the 2021 Portoroz, Slovenia tournament. This is an interesting matchup, pitting the powerful ground game of Paolini against Putintsteva’s indefatigable counter-punching. This one goes the distance and in three, the fifth seed is on to round four.
