After Hugo Gaston retires, Jannik Sinner advances to Australian Open R2 | ATP Tour

ATP Tour

Sinner advances to Australian Open R2 after Gaston retires

The two-time defending champions will next face Prizmic or Duckworth

January 20, 2026

Yannick Sinner advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday night after Hugo Gaston withdrew from the second set due to illness.

Two-time defending champion Sinner was firmly in control, leading 6-2, 6-1, but the Frenchman called in a doctor after the opening set and was unable to continue inside the Rod Laver Arena.

“I noticed he wasn’t serving very fast, especially in the second set, but that’s not how you want to win a match,” said Sinner, who is now 3-0 in the Lexus ATP head-to-head series with Gaston. “He’s a very talented player, so I knew I had to play at a very high level and be as aggressive as possible, and I’ve done that. So I’m very excited to be back here.”

The ending is unfortunate😢@janniksin Gaston was forced to retire after trailing 2-6, 1-6 and advanced to the second round.@Australian Open | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/NLYwPEfl6T

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 20, 2026

Sinner aims to become just the second player in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian Open titles, following Novak Djokovic in 2011-13 and 2019-21. He will face lucky loser Dino Prizmich or Australian wildcard James Duckworth in the next round.

In the sixth game of the match, Sinner hit a brilliant lob to earn break point, leaving Gaston in desperation to try to touch the ball. Sinner checked on his opponent at the net, although Gaston appeared uninjured and the ensuing medical timeout did not appear to be related to the fall.

“I feel like I’m ready…I’m really happy with how I started today,” Sinner added. “Of course there’s a little bit of nerves, but now it’s time to enjoy it. We train for moments like this, so it’s nice to be back here.”

Sinner immediately came under pressure in the first set, serving down to 0/40, but it was little more than a long warm-up. The Italian calmly eliminated all three break points and did not face another break point to advance after 68 minutes, according to Infosys Stats.