Second round singles action concludes on Thursday in New York.
After defeating Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in a strong first round performance, Naomi Osaka now faces Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova in the second round. Sofia Kenin also earned a solid victory over a Major champ on Tuesday, in Emma Raducanu, and now takes on fellow American Jessica Pegula. Plus, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Jasmine Paolini will all play their second round contests.
ATP singles action on Day 4 features the two men who have won Majors in 2024: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner will square off against up-and-coming American Alex Michelsen in a rematch from just two weeks ago in Cincinnati, while Alcaraz plays former US Open quarterfinalist Botic van de Zandschulp.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
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Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Alex Michelsen – 12:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
In his first match following last week’s news that Sinner had failed multiple drug tests earlier this year (and was later been cleared of wrongdoing), the Italian quickly went down a set and a break to American Mackenzie McDonald. But Jannik came back to comfortably win in four, bringing his 2024 record to a superb 49-5. The Cincinnati champ is now on a five-match winning streak, which started with a straight-set victory over Michelsen.
20-year-old Alex is now 24-23 this season at tour level, after a straightforward win in the first round over an American qualifier. Michelsen was a finalist last week in Winston-Salem, and was also a finalist on grass in Newport, so it’s been a good summer for the young American. The New York Times profiled Michelsen a year ago, and he possesses a well-balanced game, with impressive power off both wings.
Sinner’s 6-4, 7-5 win in Cincy remains their only prior encounter. On Thursday, the World No.1 is again a considerable favorite, though I’m curious to see how the young American performs on the sport’s biggest court, and in front of a partisan crowd.
Karolina Pliskova vs. Jasmine Paolini (5) – Second on Louis Armstrong Stadium
Paolini required nearly three hours to overcome 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu in an extremely entertaining match on Tuesday evening, defeating the Canadian for the third straight Major. The 28-year-old Italian is now 34-15 this season, and an excellent 16-3 at Slams.
Pliskova of course was the runner-up here in 2016, and just like Paolini is a two-time Major finalist. But her ranking has dropped considerably the last few years, and came into this tournament having won just two of her last eight matches. In the first round, she recovered from losing the second set by a score of 6-0 to defeat Mayar Sherif 7-5 in the third.
Three years ago at the Australian Open, Pliskova crushed Paolini by a score of 6-0, 6-2. But in 2024, these two players are now in very different places, and Jasmine’s current confidence and momentum should enable her to eliminate Karolina from this tournament.
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Sofia Kenin vs. Jessica Pegula (6) – Third on Louis Armstrong Stadium
Despite arriving in New York with a dismal record this year of 6-17 at tour level, Kenin continues to pull off some impressive wins at Majors. She ousted 2021 champion Emma Raducanu on Tuesday night, and now looks to win back-to-back matches for the first time since Roland Garros.
Pegula had a tumultuous first six months to her season, splitting with her long-time coach David Witt, and missing the entire European clay court season due to injury. Now coached by Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein, Jess is having a great summer. She won a grass court title in Berlin, successfully defended her WTA 1000 title in Canada, and reached the final in Cincinnati. The 30-year-old seeks to overcome the literal Major hurdle in her career: her 0-6 record in Major quarterfinals.
Kenin is actually 2-1 against Pegula at tour level, though they haven’t played in over three years. Considering recent form, as well as Jess’ 14-match win streak over fellow Americans, the sixth seed is a clear favorite to advance.
Naomi Osaka (WC) vs. Karolina Muchova – 7:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
It’s been a challenging summer for Osaka, who prior to this fortnight had lost six of her last nine matches. It’s no wonder she was so emotional following her first-round win over Jelena Ostapenko, especially after sharing a picture on social media of herself on crutches a year ago at this time, and describing how she felt unsure if she would ever be 100% physically again. Naomi looked fabulous in her lime-colored kit on Tuesday, and played extremely well, striking 19 winners and only five errors in the match.
Muchova excels at big events, having advanced to the quarterfinals or better at five Majors, including last year in New York when she reached the semifinals. However, Karolina would not play another match after last year’s US Open until this summer, due to wrist surgery. Since returning, she’s gone 8-4, having achieved a runner-up appearance on clay in Palermo last month. The 28-year-old defeated Katie Volynets on Tuesday in straight sets.
They have split two previous meetings, both of which occurred several years ago. In 2020 on a hard court, Osaka prevailed in three. In 2021 on clay, Muchova prevailed in three. If Naomi can maintain her level from Tuesday, or close to it, she should take the rubber match. But with the two-time champion’s level being so inconsistent of late, I’m backing Karolina to win another tight contest between these two, as unlike Osaka, Muchova has solid backup plans if her most aggressive tennis isn’t clicking.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Ena Shibahara (Q) – Swiatek won a close two-setter in her opening round against a lucky loser, and now plays qualifier Shibahara, who survived a third-set tiebreak on Tuesday against Daria Saville.
Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Jessika Ponchet (Q) – Rybakina recently split with her long-time coach Stefano Vukov. This is easily her worst Major, where she is just 5-5 lifetime. Ponchet is a 27-year-old French qualifier who earned her first-ever main draw victory at a Major in the first round.
Fabian Marozsan vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – As per Jim Courier, Medvedev is dealing with some kind of injury that is impacting his service motion, which explains his recent subpar results. Daniil required four sets to defeat Dusan Lajovic on Tuesday. 24-year-old Marozsan won a five-setter in his opening round, and he notably upset Carlos Alcaraz last year in Rome.
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Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs. Botic van de Zandschulp – Alcaraz beat qualifier Li Tu in four sets on Tuesday night. Van de Zandschulp was a quarterfinalist here in 2021, but has a losing record on the year, and is 0-5 in his last five second round matches at Majors. Carlitos is 2-0 against Botic.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
