The match ended abruptly after just over an hour when the injured French World No. 93 retired despite receiving medical treatment. Jannik Sinner dominated early, leading 6-2, 6-1, and the French player left the court visibly devastated. Despite the short contest, Sinner reinforced his status as the leading title contender in Melbourne.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The second seed has won 15 straight matches at Melbourne Park and is chasing a historic third consecutive Australian Open title. A third win would make him only the second man in the Open era, after Novak Djokovic, to achieve this feat. Sinner will next face either Dino Prizmic or James Duckworth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Later, in his on-court interview, Sinner mentioned that although Gaston\u2019s retirement caught him off guard, he had observed that his French opponent wasn\u2019t performing at his best.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI saw that he was not serving with a very high pace, especially in the second set, but it\u2019s not the way you want to win a match,\u201d said Sinner, who hasn\u2019t dropped a set in his past 11 matches. \"He\u2019s 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\u2019ve done, so I\u2019m very happy,\" he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Later, in his on-court interview, Sinner mentioned that although Gaston\u2019s retirement caught him off guard, he had observed that his French opponent wasn\u2019t performing at his best.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite Gaston\u2019s physical problems, the matchup was always tough, and Sinner quickly took control. Aside from an early 0\u201340 scare that Sinner escaped with aces, Gaston had few chances. Sinner broke repeatedly with strong baseline play and passing shots, winning six straight games to lead by a set and 2\u20130. The contest stayed one-sided, with Gaston briefly holding serve to avoid a bagel before Sinner sealed the match, which ended in just 68 minutes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n