Italy’s Jannik Sinner kicked off his title defence at the Australian Open on Monday, defeating Nicolas Jarry with a score of 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-1.

After a shaky moment in the second tiebreaker, where he squandered a set point with a poorly executed drop shot, Sinner quickly regained his composure.

Much of the pre-tournament focus had been on the 2024 doping allegations involving both Sinner and former women’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who began their respective tournaments around the same time on adjacent courts during Day 2.

Despite facing a tough challenge from the 29-year-old Chilean, ranked No 35, Sinner had to battle through two lengthy tiebreak sets before finding his rhythm in the third set, where he secured two service breaks on Rod Laver Arena.

The Italian tennis player has triumphed in 14 of his last 16 tiebreaks and became the second top-seeded man in the Open Era to play a tiebreak in each of his first two sets of a major tournament, following Rafael Nadal’s performance at the 2010 US Open against Teymuraz Gabashvili.

After his victory, Jannik Sinner expressed that the match was tightly contested, especially in the first two sets, which could have easily gone either way.

He noted that breaking his opponent early in the third set provided him with some breathing room. “I’m pleased with how I managed the challenging situation,” Sinner stated.