‘Unknown’ opponent gives Sinner a scare

World No. 16 Jannik Sinner set up an interesting third round showdown with Frenchman Gael Monfils after beating off the challenge of American wild card Zachary Svajda at Flushing Meadows.

The Italian young gun survived a third-set tie-break against the 18-year-old world No. 716 before taking a break late in the fourth set to win the match 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-4.

“Today was for sure not easy. I didn’t [know] my opponent,” Sinner said.

“I tried to stick to my game plan. The first set worked well. The second set was a little bit a roller coaster. I was down 5-2, and I managed somehow to break him when he was serving for the set. The tie-break, I played well. The third set went in his way.

“So the level today, I think it was quite high to be honest. He didn’t miss many balls,” Sinner added. “I tried to play my game. Sometimes I had to go more forward, which I didn’t do today, so I was a little bit struggling… At the end I’m very happy about my performance.”

Sinner will face Monfils, who beat American Steve Johnson 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.