ATP Tour

Sinner advances to Australian Open R2 after Gaston retires; Fritz wins

Jannik Sinner advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday night after Hugo Gaston retired due to an abdominal injury when dropping the second set.

The two-time defending champion, Sinner, was firmly in control, leading 6-2, 6-1, when the Frenchman — who called the doctor following the opening set — could not continue inside Rod Laver Arena.

“I saw that he was not serving with a very high pace, especially in the second set, but it’s not a way you want to win the match,” said Sinner, who is now 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Gaston. “He’s such a talented player, so I knew I had to play at a very high level, try to be aggressive as possible, which I’ve done. So I’m very happy, very happy to be back here.”

An unfortunate end 😢@janniksin advances to the second round after Gaston is forced to retire while trailing 6-2, 6-1.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/NLYwPEfl6T

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 20, 2026

Sinner is aiming to become just the second man in the Open Era to claim three consecutive Australian Open titles, following Novak Djokovic’s title runs from 2011-13 and 2019-21. In the second round, the 24-year-old will face Aussie wild card James Duckworth, who battled past lucky loser Dino Prizmic 7-6(4), 3-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

In the sixth game of the match, Sinner produced a sublime drop shot to earn a break point, sending Gaston sprawling in a desperate attempt to reach the ball. Sinner checked on his opponent at the net, though Gaston appeared uninjured, and the subsequent medical timeout seemed to be unrelated to the fall.

“I felt very prepared… I’m very happy with how I started off today,” Sinner added. “Of course there was a bit of tension, but now this is time to enjoy it. We practise for moments like this, so it’s great to be back here.”

Sinner faced immediate pressure in the opening game, slipping to 0/40 on serve, but it proved little more than an extended warm-up. The Italian calmly erased all three break points and did not face another, according to Infosys Stats, before advancing after 68 minutes.

Taylor Fritz navigated a tricky opening test to book his place in the second round on Tuesday, overcoming Valentin Royer 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in three hours, two minutes. The No. 9 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, whose best result at Melbourne Park came in his run to the quarter-finals in 2024, will next face Vit Kopriva.

"The first two sets were a battle, it was physical," said Fritz. "I'm really happy with how I rebounded after the second set. I thought I played really good tennis in the third and the fourth. I felt very calm and confident in those two sets."