US Open 2024: Jannik Sinner overcomes slow start to reach second round amid doping cloud

Sinner became embroiled in controversy in the week before the year’s final Grand Slam after the International Tennis Integrity Agency said that he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March.

Jannik Sinner, of Italy, waves to fans after defeating Mackenzie McDonald, of the United States, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships. | Photo Credit: AP

Top-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner shrugged off the doping furore surrounding him and overcame a bad start to reach the second round of the U.S. Open with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory over American Mackenzie McDonald on Tuesday.

Sinner became embroiled in controversy in the week before the year’s final Grand Slam after the International Tennis Integrity Agency said that he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March.

The Australian Open champion, who has denied wrongdoing, has been under intense scrutiny in New York so far and was slow out of the starting blocks.

He committed several unforced errors in the opening set, which McDonald took full advantage of to claim an early lead.

The American broke early in the second set to take a 1-0 lead, but after spurning three breakpoints in a lengthy game, Sinner levelled at 1-1.

The hard-fought break appeared to fill the world number one with confidence and the tide of the contest turned as he raced to a 4-1 advantage, before holding serve and breaking once again to square the match at a set apiece.

Sinner never looked back from there and won five games in a row to take the third before winning the first three games of the fourth set without dropping a point.

McDonald won a couple of games late in the match to delay the inevitable, but Sinner made his advantage count and served out the set to claim an emphatic victory.

“It started not in the best way, but you know, the first matches in every tournament are not easy, you have to accept it,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.

“He played really, really well in the beginning and I tried to stay there mentally and get into rhythm, which I’ve done at some point in the second set and then just tried to keep going. I’m very happy to be in the next round. We go day by day. Tomorrow I have one day off where we will try to get a little bit more rhythm and improve for the next match,” he said.

Sinner’s win was his first on Arthur Ashe after a few disappointing defeats, including his five-set loss to Alexander Zverev in the fourth round last year.

“(The win) means a lot to me. Obviously, the support is always amazing, so thanks everyone for coming, for staying, and now let’s see what’s coming in the next round,” he said.

The 23-year-old faces another American, Alex Michelsen, in the second round.