Sinner’s bid for Australian Open three-peat begins with anti-climactic win

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jannik Sinner dropped just three games and spent little over an hour on Rod Laver Arena to get his bid for an Australian Open three-peat started.

The No. 2-ranked Sinner was leading 6-2, 6-1 when Hugo Gaston suddenly retired from their match Tuesday night with an undisclosed injury.

“I saw that he was not serving with a very high pace in the second set,” Sinner said, but “it’s not the way you want to win the match.”

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

He’s aiming 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 the offbeat style of Oleksandra Oliynykova before advancing 7-6 (6), 6-1.

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

“Obviously I was very nervous at the start,” Keys said. “As nervous as I was . . . I’m really glad to be back, and that I got through that match.”

Different strokes

Oliynykova kept her opponent off-stride with her unorthodox shot-making and strong defense. “A little bit more of like an unconventional style,” Keys said. “I feel like that made things a little extra tricky at the start. I felt like at the end of the tiebreaker I really kind of found my game and then was able to carry that into the second set.”

Oliynykova gained a lot of attention with her unique body art and ink, and a printed message for Ukraine on a T-shirt she wore in her post-match news conference.

Two seeded women’s players were ousted in straight sets early on Day 3, with Janice Tjen upsetting No. 22 Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up, and Tereza Valentova beating Australia’s Maya Joint.

Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was beaten in the first round by Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2. Stephens, who had to qualify this year, won the U.S. Open in 2017.

Shelton advances

In a match between left-handers, Ben Shelton, a semifinalist a year ago in Australia, overcame Ugo Humbert 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) to reach the second round.

The No. 8 seed said it was one of the toughest first-round matches he could have faced, with Humbert ranked No. 33. Humbert had the highest ranking of the unseeded players.

“I thought I stayed really calm today,” Shelton said. “On a court like this, playing Ugo in the first round is a tough draw. I felt I found some of my better tennis late in the match.”

He’ll next face Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny, who ended the 20th and final Australian Open campaign for 39-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti advanced when Raphael Collignon retired in the fourth set. The score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2 when the Belgian player quit because of cramping and dizziness.

Also advancing were Eliot Spizzirri, who beat rising star Joao Fonseca, the 19-year-old Brazilian, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, No. 15 Karen Khachanov and Sebastian Baez, who outlasted Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3.

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