Hot Sinner a Sunday winner as Australian Open starts early

MELBOURNE : Jannik Sinner picked up where he left off in 2023 by easing past Botic van de Zandschulp into the second round of the Australian Open as the year's first Grand Slam got underway a day earlier than usual on Sunday.

The clean-hitting Italian fourth seed, the hottest player on the men's tour at the back end of last season with victories over Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, was quickly back in his groove on Rod Laver Arena.

Although far from perfect, he broke his Dutch opponent to open the contest and grabbed another break to serve for the second set before securing his place in the second round 6-4 7-5 6-3 after 2 1/2 hours on court.

"It's my first match of the season and it means a lot to get a win," said Sinner, who was cheered on by the "Carota Boys", a band of fans dressed as carrots.

"It's a tournament where I would like to play as good as possible ... hopefully I can show more as I go along. The first match is never easy, I think I can be happy."

Sinner is one of a band of young guns looking to dethrone 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who gets his bid for an 11th title underway against Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena.

Reigning women's champion Aryna Sabalenka will follow Djokovic on the main showcourt for her first-round contest against German qualifier Ella Seidel.

The addition of an extra day to the tournament to help clear the first round matches left the early schedule a little light on star power.

Czech Barbora Krejcikova was the only former women's Grand Slam winner playing in the day session and the ninth seed was soon in trouble against Japanese wildcard Mai Hontama on Margaret Court Arena.

Hontama, playing her first main draw match at