Australian Open: Jannik Sinner’s bid begins with an anti-climactic win

Jannik Sinner dropped just three matches and spent just over an hour at Rod Laver Arena to kick off his bid for an Australian Open three-peat.

The No. 2 Sinner was leading 6-2, 6-1 when Hugo Gaston suddenly withdrew from the match with an undisclosed injury.

“I saw that he wasn’t serving at a very high tempo in the second set,” Sinner said, but “that’s not how you want to win the match.”

It was an anti-climatic way to complete his first competitive match on Melbourne Park center court since his victory over Alexander Zverev 12 months ago to capture back-to-back Australian titles.

He aims to become the fourth player to win three consecutive men’s titles at the Australian Open.

Madison Keys had a tougher start to her title defense, struggling early against Oleksandra Oliynykova’s unusual style before advancing 7-6 (6), 6-1.

Ninth-seeded Keys, playing in her 50th Grand Slam tournament, trailed 4-0 before rallying to force a tiebreak against the Ukrainian.

“Obviously I was very nervous at first,” Keys said. “As nervous as I was… I’m really happy to be back and to get through that match.”