Canadians Shapovalov, Auger-Aliassime advance to second round at U.S. Open

Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime moved on to the second round of the U.S. Open after the seeded Canadians each posted a straight-sets victory Tuesday.

Shapovalov, seeded 27th in the men's draw, won his first-round match in convincing style by downing Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.

The 25th-seeded Auger-Aliassime got a little more fight from British lucky loser Billy Harris, but still didn't drop a set in a 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-4 triumph.

The wins mean all three seeded Canadians in the men's main draw are in the second round after No. 31 Gabriel Diallo defeated Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday.

WATCH | Shapovalov takes U.S. Open 1st-round match in 3 sets:

Denis Shapovalov coasts into the 2nd round of the U.S. Open Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., made short work of an injured Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the second round of the U.S. Open.

Shapovalov will next face French wild-card Valentin Royer on Thursday.

Auger-Aliassime will next meet either French veteran Gael Monfils or Russia's Roman Safiullin, who met later Tuesday.

Shapovalov was up first Tuesday and looked to be in fine form. After going up a set, he took the second set with a hard-fought break in the decisive game that came after the Canadian failed to put the game away on serve when up 5-3.

The 26-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., took that momentum into the third set, claiming an early break en route to taking a 3-0 lead. Fuscovics took a medical timeout during the ensuing game and was clearly playing with discomfort for the remainder of the match.

Shapovalov put the game away on his first match point, picking up his eighth break of the match.

The crowd at Court 17 of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was solidly behind the Canadian, frequently breaking into chants of "Let's go, Shapo!"

The Canadian improved to 28-0 in Grand Slam matches when leading after two sets and moved to 3-2 in his career series with Fucsovics.

Playing on the same court as his friend and countryman, Auger-Aliassime used his big serve to overcome 45 unforced errors. The Montreal star fired 10 aces and won 74 per cent of first-serve points.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime puts away Harris in straight sets:

Felix Auger-Aliassime advances to U.S. Open 2nd round for first time since 2022 Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime beat "lucky loser" Billy Harris of Great Britain 6-4, 7-6(8), 6-4 to advance to the second round of the U.S. Open.

Harris, who entered the tournament ranked 151st in the world, gave No. 27 Auger-Alissime some trouble in the second set. The Briton broke Auger-Aliassime in the first game and led 5-3 before the 25-year-old Canadian replied by winning three straight games to go up 6-5.

A hold by Harris sent the set to a tiebreaker at 6-6. He then led the extra session 8-7 before losing three straight points on errors and giving Auger-Aliassime a two-set lead.

Auger-Aliassime was a semifinalist at the 2021 U.S. Open, while Shapovalov's best result came in 2020 when he reached the quarterfinals.

Wimbledon champ Swiatek into 2nd round

Iga Swiatek had an easy start to her quest to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon in the same year, needing just an hour to beat Emiliana Arango 6-1, 6-2.

The No. 2-seeded Swiatek won the point on 23 of 26 first serves and had a 26-5 advantage in winners in the opening match of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Swiatek went nearly a week between matches after losing in the mixed doubles championship match with Casper Ruud last Wednesday night. But her rhythm came right back in a dominant start to the tournament.

"For sure it was a solid match and I'm happy that I wasn't trying to overpower, but I was just solid," Swiatek said.

A second title for the 2022 champion at Flushing Meadows would make her the first woman to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2012.

Swiatek also has a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking if she wins the title and Aryna Sabalenka loses before the quarterfinals.

Sinner starts title defence with easy win

Jannik Sinner looked fully recovered from a recent illness as he started his U.S. Open title defence with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Vit Kopriva.

The top-ranked Sinner had to stop playing in the Cincinnati final against Carlos Alcaraz on Aug. 18 because he was sick, pulled out of the U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament that began the next day and said he still wasn't quite feeling 100 per cent late last week.

But he had extra time to recover with first-round matches now spread over three days with the tournament's new Sunday start and nothing seemed wrong when the No. 1 seed rolled through his Czech opponent in one hour 39 minutes.

"Obviously, every year is different," said Sinner, sporting the white arm sleeve he began wearing after hurting his elbow in a fall during Wimbledon. "You come here starting this tournament, hopefully, the best possible way — which I did.

"Obviously very happy that I'm healthy again, that we did our best to be in the best possible shape here."

The Italian earned his second Grand Slam title when he beat Taylor Fritz last year in Flushing Meadows, then went on to add two more this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He is trying to join Rod Laver, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to reach the final of all four Grand Slams in the same year in the Open era, which began in 1968.

"Amazing memories," Sinner said of returning to New York. "Obviously every year is different. You come here starting this tournament hopefully the best possible way, which I did."

He had won 26 straight matches on hard courts before the Cincinnati final.

In other matches:

Seeded winners included No. 8 Amanda Anisimova, the Wimbledon runner-up to Swiatek; No. 18 Beatriz Haddad Maia and No. 27 Marta Kostyuk among the women

No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti, No. 19 Francisco Cerundolo and No. 23 Alexander Bublik, who eliminated 2014 champion Marin Cilic

No. 3 Gauff, who won the 2023 U.S. Open, was due on court at night to play Ajla Tomljanovic, followed by No. 3 Alexander Zverev against Alejandro Tabilo.

Who is scheduled to play Wednesday?

Sabalenka, Alcaraz, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic and 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Jessica Pegula are on the Day 4 schedule as the second round begins.

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