(Melbourne) World No.2 Jannik Sinner, double title holder, benefited on Tuesday from the retirement of Frenchman Hugo Gaston (93^e), injured his abdominals, to qualify for the second round of the Australian Open.

The 24-year-old Italian was leading 6-2, 6-1 when Gaston threw in the towel.

“It’s the abs that have given up a little. I felt the pain in the middle of the first round. I called the doctor immediately at the end of the first round to get an anti-inflammatory,” explained the Frenchman who suddenly felt “like a little stab”.

He fell during the first round after returning a drop shot from Sinner, but he assured that the injury and the fall were not linked.

On the other hand, the pain in his abdominals bothered him a lot “on serve and on high balls”.

“I saw that he was not serving at a very high speed, especially in the second set,” commented Jannik Sinner in his post-match interview on Central.

“I am very happy to qualify, to return to this place that I particularly cherish […]but that’s not the way I wanted to win this match,” added the world No.2.

Sinner’s next opponent will be Croatian Dino Prizmic (127^e) or the Australian James Duckworth (88^e).

For his first official match of the season, the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner took a little time to settle down, notably having to save three break points in the first game.

But once he managed to take Gaston’s serve in the particularly tight sixth game, Sinner unfolded, winning the next seven games. A few moments after snatching his only game in a one-sided second round, the Frenchman informed his opponent that he was giving up, after a little over an hour of match.

“Giving up pisses me off a bit,” Gaston commented. But hey, on the other hand I can’t afford to play at 50%, even 100%, to beat Sinner…”

Undefeated since his retirement at the beginning of October in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, the world No.2 scored a sixteenth victory in a row on Tuesday and joined Carlos Alcaraz (1) in the second round of the Australian Open.^er), Alexander Zverev (3^e) and Novak Djokovic (4^e).

“I felt very well prepared, we worked a lot physically and on the court” during the offseason, said Sinner, who skipped the Davis Cup finals in Bologna in November to have an additional week of preparation for the 2026 season.

For his part, Lorenzo Musetti, seeded fifth, progressed due to the retirement of Raphaël Collignon of Belgium in the fourth round.

The score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 and 3-2. The nature of the injury has not been released.

Shelton hits hard

The 23-year-old American Ben Shelton inherited probably the worst draw, in the person of the first ATP player not to have been seeded, the Frenchman Ugo Humbert.

But last year’s semi-finalist, who made his name by reaching the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2023 despite never having left the United States, was uncompromising and won 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).

“It’s always difficult to face Humbert in the first round, but I remained very calm, very focused on my game and I played better and better,” he stressed with satisfaction.

He will play in the second round against the Australian Dane Sweeny (182^e).

Monfils eliminated in the first round of his last tournament in Australia

Gaël Monfils, who will end his career at the end of the season, was eliminated Tuesday in the first round of his last Australian Open by the inexperienced Australian Dane Sweeny (182^e world) 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.

The 39-year-old Frenchman plays his 23^e and final season. Ex-world No.6 currently 110^ehe was playing his 20^e Australian major since his first participation in 2005. He has reached the quarter-finals twice, in 2016 and 2022.

“My journey began here in 2003 (in qualifying, Editor’s note). We are in 2026 and it is the finish line, but thank you all for accompanying me, you were great,” he told the audience from the court while generally only the winner of the matches, before the final, speaks on the field.

“I fought four hours again today, but this guy (Sweeny) is very strong. I wish him good luck,” he added to his winner.

For the latter, the victory is particularly beautiful, because in addition to having beaten one of the great names in tennis of the last twenty years, he offered himself his first victory in a Grand Slam tournament.

“It’s like I’m in a series… it’s incredible,” he commented. Before the match started, his goal was “win or lose, enjoy the chance to be there.”

As usual, the most popular French player since Yannick Noah spared no effort. And despite the encouragement of the public – in particular from a group of French people – the youth of his opponent (24 years old) visibly prevailed, as Monfils appeared so tired.

Broken one last time to be down 6-5 in the fourth set and the Australian’s service to follow, Monfils failed to reverse the situation.

“You’re here, you played your 20^are Australian Open and you have entered a very closed circle: you are six players from the Open era (since the 1969 edition) to have reached this bar,” tournament director Craig Tiley told him, who came to greet him on the court.

“We want to thank you for your career, your attitude and the way you taught us how to play this wonderful game. Well done,” added Tiley.

Monfils’ last match in Melbourne, greeted by a hearty ovation from the public with “thank you Gaël” sung in the stands, lasted 3 hours 51 minutes.