Tennis-Sinner kick-starts US Open title defence with routine first-round win

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By Amy Tennery

NEW YORK (Reuters) -World number one Jannik Sinner opened his U.S. Open title defence with a 6-1 6-1 6-2 demolition of unseeded Czech Vit Kopriva on Tuesday, appearing to be fit again after illness derailed his Cincinnati finale.

The four-times major winner retired from the U.S. Open tune-up tournament earlier this month due to sickness but had no issues at Arthur Ashe Stadium as he sent over seven aces.

Sinner next plays either Australian Alexei Popyrin or Finn Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round.

“Very happy that I’m healthy again, that we did our best to be in the best possible shape here,” said Sinner.

The Italian sprinted through the first five games of the opening set, where he produced only a handful of unforced errors and dropped just two of his first-serve points.

Kopriva never got a leg up on his opponent, slipping and falling to the court in the final game of the second set as he chased a shot near the baseline before handing Sinner another break with a double fault on the next point.

The Czech cleaned up his act in the third set as Sinner got a bit sloppier, putting up nine unforced errors, but the Italian extinguished both break points he faced.

Sinner entered Flushing Meadows a year ago in a cloud of controversy over doping allegations but the crowd was firmly on his side this time as he clinched victory with a beautiful backhand winner that just kissed the line.

“Feels great to be back here, obviously it’s a very special tournament,” said Sinner.

Sinner accepted a three-month suspension for doping in February, having tested positive for a banned substance last year, following a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)