U.S. Open R2 previews and predictions: Sinner vs. Michelsen, Alcaraz vs. Van de Zandschulp

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who both dropped sets in round one, will be back in action at the U.S. Open on Thursday. Sinner faces a red-hot Alex Michelsen, while Alcaraz goes up against Botic van de Zandschulp.

(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Alex Michelsen

Sinner and Michelsen will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this summer when they meet again in round two of the U.S. Open on Thursday. They just faced each other at the Cincinnati Masters, where Sinner prevailed 6-4, 7-5. The world No. 1 went on to lift the trophy, but it is not all well and good for him at the moment. He finds himself embroiled in controversy following a positive steroid test in March that was finally reported last week. In his first match since, Sinner looked out of sorts early on Tuesday but recovered from a set and a break down to crush Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

Michelsen has been in stellar form over the past couple of months. At just 20 years old, the American is already up to No. 49 in the rankings and has earned 24 of his 31 lifetime match victories in 2024 following a straight-set defeat of Eliot Spizzirri in round one. Recent results include runner-up performances in both Newport and Winston-Salem–the latter ending with a loss to Lorenzo Sonego this past Saturday. Michelsen has to be somewhat fatigued and now runs into the best player in the world, who seems to be keeping it together mentally based on his last three sets against McDonald.

Pick: Sinner in 3

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(3) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Botic van de Zandschulp

Alcaraz also struggled in the early stages of his opening match but picked up the pace to defeat qualifier Li Tu 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Amazingly enough, that marked the third-seeded Spaniard’s first victory of the entire hard-court summer. Of course, he played only one warmup event–losing right away in Cincinnati to Gael Monfils. That came on the heels of a loss to Novak Djokovic in the gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics.

Next up for Alcaraz on Thursday is a third meeting with Van de Zandschulp. Both of their first two tilts were lopsided, with Alcaraz cruising 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 at the 2021 Australian Open and 6-4, 6-2 on the indoor hard courts of Basel in 2022. There is no reason to think anything will be different in this one. Van de Zandschulp had been playing so poorly this spring and summer that he briefly considered retiring from tennis during the grass-court swing. The 74th-ranked Dutchman has managed to restore confidence by going back to the Challenger circuit and reaching a pair of finals, but that hardly inspires any confidence heading into a matchup with the No. 3 player in the world. Alcaraz is a whole different beast compared to first-round opponent Denis Shapovalov, who has been every bit as cold as Van de Zandschulp.

Pick: Alcaraz in 3

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