Jannik Sinner looks fully healthy in an easy US Open win to begin his title defense

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NEW YORK (AP) — Jannik Sinner looked fully recovered from a recent illness as he started his U.S. Open title defense Tuesday 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% 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 1 hour, 39 minutes.

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

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.

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