NEW YORK:

Jannik Sinner kept his bid to win back-to-back US Open titles firmly on track with an emphatic second round demolition of Australia's Alexei Popyrin on Thursday.

The Italian world number one needed just two hours and one minute to dispatch Popyrin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Sinner -- who only dropped four games in his first round win over Vit Kopriva on Tuesday -- was similarly brisk against Popyrin.

The 24-year-old broke Popyrin five times as he moved through the gears against his opponent, ranked 36th in the world.

Sinner faces Canadian 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round on Saturday.

"Obviously I try to play the best tennis I can, the first round match is always different compared to the further you go (in the tournament)," Sinner said.

"I'm very happy that I managed thes

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