NEW YORK  -  Jannik Sinner avoided the fate of his top rivals, reaching the fourth round of the US Open while fellow top seed Iga Swiatek gained momentum in her quest for a sixth Grand Slam title after a pep talk from Serena Williams.

With defending champion Novak Djokovic forced out by a shock loss to Alexei Popyrin in the third round on Friday and another title contender, Carlos Alcaraz, sent crashing by Botic van de Zandschulp in round two a day earlier, all eyes were on Sinner. The Italian, who has managed the intense scrutiny following a doping controversy in the build-up to the tournament, thumped Christopher O’Connell 6-1 6-4 6-2 on Saturday to underline his credentials as the outright favourite at the year’s final major.

“This sport is unpredictable, no? Whenever you drop a little bit of your level, you know, if it’s mental, if it’s tennis-wise or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result,” Sinner said about the exits of Djokovic and Alcaraz. “Both opponents who they lost against played incredible tennis. And it happens. “So I just watch on my side what I have to do, you know, that I guess I’ve done, and then we’ll see what I can do.”

Up next for the Australian Open champion is Tommy Paul, who is among a group of players eager to end a 21-year American wait for a homegrown major winner, since Andy Roddick claimed the title in New York. Paul, the 14th seed, recovered from a first-set wobble to overcome Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 7-6(3) and hoped to counter Sinner’s “bang-bang tennis” when they clash.

Paul’s compatriot and sixth seed Jessica Pegula advanced in the women’s draw with a 6-3 6-3 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, but Ashlyn Krueger fell 6-1 6-1 to Liudmila Samsonova. French Open champion Swiatek later swatted aside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-2 with a near flawless performance after a chat with 23-times major winner Williams, who returned to the US Open as a fan having stepped away from tennis in 2022.

Roland Garros and Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-4 as the diminutive Italian continued to fly under the radar, but she could face a big hurdle with Czech Karolina Muchova up next. Muchova outclassed Anastasia Potapova 6-4 6-2. Australian Alex de Minaur’s injury problems are more recent, but the 10th seed shrugged off a frustrating hip issue that has dogged him since Wimbledon to outlast Briton Dan Evans 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-0.Evans beat Karen Khachanov in the longest US Open match at five hours and 35 minutes but finally ran out of gas.

Caroline Wozniacki showed she had plenty left in the tank since her comeback in 2023 after a three-year break following the births of her two children as the 34-year-old Dane eased past Jessika Ponchet 6-3 6-2.Briton Jack Draper beat Van de Zandschulp 6-3 6-4 6-2.Daniil Medvedev breezed past Flavio Cobolli 6-3 6-4 6-3.