The Russians performed without mistakes and received 88.15 points from the judges.
The second place was taken by the Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donoghue (86.05), and the top three were closed by their compatriots Madison Chock and Evan Bates (85.15).
Another Russian duet, Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin, is in fifth place (83.02).
The athletes will present their free dance on March 27.
Earlier, Ilya Averbukh expressed the opinion that Sinitsina and Katsalapov showed the standard of dance performance at the World Championships.