Sinner starts bid for Aussie three-peat

Jannik Sinner of Italy serves to Hugo Gaston of France during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake) MELBOURNE, Australia — 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,”...