Jannik Sinner has made a successful start to his Australian Open title defence with a straight-sets win over Nicolas Jarry.
The Italian world No.1 was pushed hard in the first two sets by the Chilean on Monday before advancing 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
Victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to 16 matches dating back to last October, with the last 14 victories all coming in straight sets.
Sinner claimed his maiden grand slam title at Melbourne Park last year and also saluted at the US Open.
But he also made headlines off the court after testing positive to a banned anabolic steroid in a case where the details became public after his triumph at Flushing Meadows.
Sinner avoided a suspension after the International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled it was a matter of accidental contamination, but the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed that ruling and is seeking a ban of a year or more.
That appeal will be heard in April.
The Italian was pleased to find way past a tricky first-round opponent in Jarry without dropping a set.
“The atmosphere has been amazing,” he said in his on-court interview.
“I think it was a very close one.
“The first two sets could have gone both ways. (Jarry) is a incredible player with huge potential.”
Earlier in the day, young American Alex Michelsen held his nerve and thanked his mum after sending Greek crowd favourite Stefanos Tsitsipas packing in a massive round-one boilover at the Australian Open.
The deciding fourth set was a memorable one, with the pair trading outrageous winners along with untimely errors, the most costly of which was a double fault from 11th seed Tsitsipas on break point in the ninth game.
The 20-year-old Michelsen then served out the match 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 to secure the biggest win of his burgeoning career.
Michelsen paid tribute to his mother Sondra, a former college player who has been his biggest supporter since he took up the sport aged three.
“We’d hit a million balls from the baseline every day,” he said.
“We’d go like 30 minutes up the middle, then we go across each way for an hour and a half.
“There’s no chance I’d be here without without her, so thanks Mum. Love you.”
It was the first time since 2018 that Tsitsipas had lost in the first round at Melbourne Park, while he also fell in the opening round of the US Open to Thanasi Kokkinakis.
He lost the 2023 final to Novak Djokovic and had also reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park on three other occasions.
But the prospect of securing that elusive maiden major title must seem further away than ever, with Tsitsipas admitting he no longer had the same desperate hunger to succeed.
It’s a far cry from the heady days of 2019, when he beat the great Roger Federer at Melbourne Park and seemed well on the way to being the sport’s next big thing.
“For sure I had a fresher mind back then,” Tsitsipas said.
“It seemed like I was hungrier in a completely different way than I am now.”
Michelsen’s second-round opponent will be Australian wildcard James McCabe, who trounced Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce 6-4 6-3 6-4.
American No.17 seed Frances Tiafoe was made to work hard by Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech before advancing 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-3.
