Jannik Sinner kicked off his 2026 Australian Open title defense with a very short night’s work on Rod Laver Arena. The world No. 2 faced France’s Hugo Gaston in the first round, but the match never really got a chance to develop.

Sinner stormed through the opening two sets, 6-2, 6-1, before Gaston was forced to retire, sending the defending champion into the second round after just 1 hour and 8 minutes on court.

The scoreline was impressive, but the moment everyone was talking about had nothing to do with a forehand winner. “A great moment of sportsmanship from the defending champion 👏,” TNT Sports wrote while sharing the clip of how Jannik Sinner rushed to help his opponent.

So what exactly happened is that Gaston took a nasty fall while lunging for a volley at the net, and Sinner immediately crossed the court to check on him. Even though the world No. 93 gave a thumbs-up to show he was okay, Sinner stayed by his side and helped him up.

With the win in the books, world No. 2 now moves on to the second round, where he’ll face either Australia’s James Duckworth or Croatia’s Dino Prižmić. It was a curtailed start to his title defense, but between the clean tennis and the classy conduct, the Italian gave Melbourne plenty to appreciate on opening night.

“I saw he was not serving with high pace, especially in the second set,” Sinner said, acknowledging that his opponent clearly wasn’t at full strength as the match wore on.

“It’s not the way you want to win a match. He is a talented player. He has incredible touch… I knew from the beginning that I had to play a very high level tennis, trying to be as aggressive as possible, which I’ve done, so I’m very happy,” Sinner added, speaking with clear appreciation both for Gaston’s game and for what Melbourne means to him.

Since his last official appearance at the ATP Finals, Sinner has stayed busy by playing a number of exhibition events to sharpen his form. And the mission? To chase history, aiming to become just the second man in the Open Era to win three straight Australian Open titles, following in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic’s incredible runs from 2011-13 and 2019-21.

Jannik Sinner opens up on his Gaston preparation

In the sixth game, the defending champion feathered in a gorgeous drop shot to earn a break point, sending Hugo Gaston sprawling in a desperate chase. Afterwards, Sinner spoke about how ready he felt walking onto the court.

“I felt very prepared… I’m very happy with how I started off today,” he said. “Of course, there was a bit of tension, but now it’s time to enjoy it. We practise for moments like this, so it’s great to be back here.” It was the voice of a defending champion who looked comfortable right from the start.

There was one brief wobble early on, when Sinner slipped to 0/40 in his very first service game. But it turned out to be little more than an extended warm-up. He calmly wiped away all three break points and, according to Infosys Stats, didn’t face another one the rest of the night, closing out the match in just 68 minutes.

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While Sinner was sharp and relentless, Gaston was clearly struggling physically. Hampered in his movement and unable to hang in the longer rallies, the Frenchman found himself up against a brick wall as Sinner imposed his rhythm, power, and surgical precision from the opening games. Despite a few high-quality exchanges, Gaston ultimately had no choice but to call it a night, retiring at the end of the second set.