US Open: Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper reach fourth round

World number one Jannik Sinner is chasing a second Grand Slam title. GETTY IMAGES

Top seed Jannik Sinner ensured he avoided the same fate as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz by steamrolling his way into the fourth round of the US Open.

The Italian saw his closest-ranked rivals - defending champion Djokovic and Spain's Alcaraz - suffer shock defeats at Flushing Meadows earlier this week.

Sinner had no such problems against Christopher O'Connell, beating the Australian 6-1 6-4 6-2 in less than two hours to reach the second week in New York.

"Everything can happen in this sport. I try to stay on my side of the net and try to take it day by day," Sinner said when asked about Djokovic and Alcaraz's early exits.

"There have already been a couple of upsets so let's see what's coming but I'm very happy to still be here."

The 23-year-old will face American home hope Tommy Paul, who fought back from a set down to beat Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-1 7-6 (7-3).

Sinner has lost only two hard-court matches this season and won four titles on the surface, including his first Grand Slam triumph at January's Australian Open.

His most recent success was at Cincinnati in August, winning the title the day before news emerged he had been cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for a banned substance earlier this year.

While 24-time major winner Djokovic and Alcaraz, the French Open and Wimbledon champion, were well below par in their early-round defeats, Sinner looked close to his best against O'Connell.

He fired down 46 winners and 15 aces, and denied the world number 87 any break points across the three sets.

Britain's Jack Draper matched his best Grand Slam performance with an efficient win over Botic van de Zandschulp to reach the fourth round of the US Open.

Jack Draper is at a career-high ranking of 25th in the world. Getty Images

The British number one's side of the draw in New York had been blown open by Carlos Alcaraz's defeat by Dutchman Van de Zandschulp in the previous round and Draper made the most of the initial opportunity with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.

In muggy conditions at Flushing Meadows, where Draper repeatedly used ice packs on his neck and blasted himself with an air conditioning unit at changeovers, the Briton was cool and clinical against a weary-looking and error-prone opponent.

"I thought I played a solid match today," Draper said. "It was a little bit scrappy, a little bit up and down, but I got through in the end."

Draper, the 25th seed who has yet to drop a set here, will face Czech world number 39 Tomas Machac for a place in the quarter-finals.

Fellow Briton Dan Evans will seek to join Draper in the last 16 later on day six of the final Grand Slam tournament of the year when he takes on Australian 10th seed Alex de Minaur (00:00 BST Sunday).