New delhi, Jan. 20 -- It was a stark contrast watching the two defending champions in action at the Australian Open on Tuesday. At one end of the spectrum, Jannik Sinner, the ultimate professional, hit the cruise control button as he reeled off games in a jiffy against Hugo Gaston from France. Having won two sets with minimal fuss, 6-2 6-1, Sinner had hardly broken a sweat. But then, the man who defines consistency was surprised Gaston was running short on fuel and conceded the match.
It was an abrupt halt to what had already become a no-contest at the Rod Laver Arena in just an hour. The kind of tennis Sinner played in 2025, he heads into the title-defence this January in beast mode. Yet, to not have to work hard and ease into the second round was more like a practice session for Sinner.
"I saw that he (Gaston) was not serving with a very high pace especially in the second (set), but it's not the way you want to win a match," said Sinner, who hasn't dropped a set in his past 11 matches. "He's such a talented player. He has incredible touch and moves very, very well, so I knew starting from the beginning that I had to play a very high level of tennis trying to be as aggressive as possible which I've done, so I'm very happy," he added.
Explaining his preparation, Sinner said: "I felt very well prepared. We worked a lot physically and on court . I had one great (practice) match with Felix (Auger-Aliassime), even though it's an exhibition we went 'full'," added Sinner.
If Sinner was in the comfort zone, Madison Keys was in big trouble against free-swinging Oleksandra Oliynykova from Ukraine before she won 7-6 (8/6) 6-1 to enter the second round. As the defending champion, Keys must have felt butterflies in her stomach as she stepped onto the Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday. Such things happen when you go in as a favourite and face an opponent who has nothing to lose.
Oleksandra was enjoying herself, throwing up unconventional tennis. She was under no pressure, so hitting moon balls, drop shots and using the slice worked against Keys. It is not easy for the big players when they face opponents who are cheeky and come up with stuff which is known as 'junk tennis'. Sporting tattoos and ready to play tennis which was hard to decode, Oleksandra was happy to be the underdog.
As Keys said later: "It's just been a really long time to play someone who plays that style, but she does it so effectively."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.