Central Plains FFA Chapter

01/20 05:25 CST Sinner's bid for Australian Open three-peat begins with anti-climactic win Sinner's bid for Australian Open three-peat begins with anti-climactic win By JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Two sets and just over an hour of tennis wasn't what Jannik Sinner wanted at Rod Laver Arena for the start of his bid for an Australian Open three-peat. In his first competitive match since beating Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals in November, Sinner was leading 6-2, 6-1 when No. 93-ranked 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," Sinner said, but "it's not the way you want to win the match." After signalling he had to quit, Gaston went to a courtside chair and bowed his head into his hands. Sinner went to console him, putting a hand on the Frenchman's shoulder and wishing him a speedy recovery. For Sinner, it was an anti-climactic return to Melbourne Park's main arena 12 months after clinching back-to-back Australian titles with a win over Alexander Zverev in the final. He played Alcaraz in the finals of the other three majors, winning at Wimbledon and finishing runner-up at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, as the so-called Sincaraz rivals extended their dominance of Grand Slam tournaments to a second full year. Sinner isn't content with evenly splitting the titles with Alcaraz, though. He used his time off to concentrate on adjusting his service motion and tweaking other parts of his game in the search for incremental improvements. "I've put in many, many long days in the off-season trying to become a better tennis player," No. 2-ranked Sinner said. "But at the end of the day the most important part is to go on court and to enjoy, no? It's very special to start the season in a night session match here in a Grand Slam, the packed stadium, just trying to do your best." Sinner is aiming to become the fourth player to win three consecutive men's titles at the Australian Open.

Keys opener 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 finding her rhythm. "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." Oliynykova's unorthodox shot-making and strong defense kept Keys off balance in the first set. "I feel like that made things a little extra tricky," Keys said. "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. No. 10 Belinda Bencic opened with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Katie Boulter, but two women's seeds were ousted in straight sets early on Day 3, with Janice Tjen upsetting 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Tereza Valentova beating Australia's Maya Joint. Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion who had to qualify this year, lost Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2.

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. No. 9 Taylor Fritz had a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.(9) win over Valentin Royer, and No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti advanced when Raphael Collignon retired in the fourth set because of cramp 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. ___ More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis