Australian Open: Sinner off to a good start, Gaston retires after two sets

Milan, 20 January (LaPresse) – Jannik Sinner, world number two and two-time defending champion, got off to the best possible start at the 2026 Australian Open. The Italian tennis player defeated French left-hander Hugo Gaston, ranked 93rd in the ATP rankings, who was forced to retire with the score at 6-2, 6-1 to the Italian after just 1 hour and 8 minutes of play. Gaston was forced to stop due to physical problems at the start of the second set. In the second round, the champion from Sesto Pusteria will face the winner of the match between Australian James Duckworth, ranked 88th in the ATP rankings, and Croatian Dino Prizmic, ranked 127th. In Melbourne, Sinner aims to become the fourth player in history to win three consecutive men’s singles titles in the history of the tournament after Jack Crawford (from 1931 to 1933), Roy Emerson (from 1963 to 1967) and Novak Djokovic (from 2011 to 2013 and again from 2019 to 2021). Sinner also aims to become the fifth player in the Open Era with at least three titles, even if not consecutive, in the men’s singles at the Australian Open, after Novak Djokovic (10 titles), Roger Federer (6), Andre Agassi (4) and Mats Wilander (3).