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World number one Jannik Sinner's bid for a second Grand Slam title continued to gain momentum as he thumped Christopher O'Connell 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the US Open fourth round.
Sinner, who has seen two of his biggest rivals for the title at Flushing Meadow fall by the wayside after Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were beaten, took an hour and 53 minutes to bundle out his 87th-ranked opponent.
"I try to stay on my side of the net and I'm trying to take it day by day," Sinner told reporters.
"Each opponent is a very tough challenge. There have been already a couple of upsets, so let's see what's coming, but I'm very happy to be still here."
The Italian made slow starts in his opening two matches but he shot out of the blocks on Arthur Ashe Stadium court for a 5-0 lead before taking the first set on serve.
Australian O'Connell provided a degree of resistance in the second set, but Sinner broke early to take a 2-1 lead and went on to clinch the set with a searing crosscourt forehand winner.
Sinner continued to pepper O'Connell with winners, taking his tally up to 46 as he broke twice in the final set to wrap up victory with 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams looking on from the stands.
Australian Open champion Sinner's strongest weapon in the victory was his flawless serve, firing 15 aces and denying O'Connell any break points.
"Today was a great match," Sinner said.
"I knew I had to play very solid throughout the whole match, and we played already a couple of times. I felt like today the serve was working really, really well.
Sinner, who has won seven straight matches since the start of his victorious campaign at the Cincinnati Open, faces either 14th-seeded local hope Tommy Paul or Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo in the fourth round.
Paul survives early scare to beat Diallo
Tommy Paul overcame a rocky start to take down Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(3) and set up a meeting with world number one Sinner.
Paul traded breaks with his 143rd-ranked opponent three times in a chaotic opening set, before Diallo clinched set point with an unreturnable serve.
Paul cleaned up every aspect of his game in the next set, breaking the Canadian in the second game with a forehand winner.
Paul extinguished Diallo's lone break-point chance of the third set and closed it out with another forehand winner on the third match-point.
"He was all over my serve," said Paul, who is part of an American cohort eager to end a 21-year US men's major drought.
"He returned a lot better than I thought he was going to."
Paul is joined in the fourth round by compatriots Frances Tiafoe, Brandon Nakashima and Taylor Fritz.
Draper downs van de Zandschulp
Jack Draper made it to the fourth round at the US Open for the second year running after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 over Botic van de Zandschulp.
The Briton converted five of his eight break-points to seal victory over the Dutchman, who defeated Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round
Draper also hit 13 aces en route to defeating the 28-year old in their first matchup, closing out the win in two hours, 14 minutes.
Draper will take on Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in the next round.
Machac converted seven break-points while beating Belgium's David Goffin 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 34 minutes to advance to the fourth round for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament.
