Jannik Sinner has hit the ground running in Melbourne as the Italian young gun chases a maiden grand slam title.
The world No.4 skipped lead-in tournaments for the Australian Open, preferring to find his groove at the Kooyong Classic exhibition in Melbourne, which also features Danish world No.8 Holger Rune and veteran Andy Murray.
Playing in the opening fixture on Wednesday, his first match of the summer, Sinner swept aside home hope Marc Polmans 6-4 6-0 to underline his status as one of the greatest threats to Novak Djokovic claiming an unprecedented 25th career major this month.
The 22-year-old finished 2023 as the hottest player on the ATP tour, beating world No.1 Djokovic in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals in Turin and again a week later as he led Italy to the Davis Cup title in Malaga.
He also captured late-season titles in Beijing and Vienna, chalking up wins over world No.2 Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and third-ranked Daniil Medvedev of Russia and beating Australian top dog Alex de Minaur to snare his maiden ATP 1000 crown in Toronto.
Sinner's best result at the Australian Open came in 2022 with a quarter-final appearance while his best grand slam finish was at Wimbledon last year when he reached the semi-finals.
However Italy's highest-ever-ranked men's player could have his first grand slam within reach, showing he has continued to add to his ball-striking weapons.
Finding his rhythm in the second set, he used variety, including volleys, to put world No.156 Polmans on the back foot while his big serve also did plenty of damage.
Following his first outing of the year, Sinner said he was trying to recapture the form and confidence that he finished 2023 with.
"It was a good end of season last year and I'm starting from zero to try and get confidence from last year again," Sinner said.
"It's obviously tough in the first match you play but I was happy with today. It was a tough match but I was happy with how I handled the conditions."
Crucially, Sinner will be seeded fourth for Thursday's all-important Open draw, meaning he is guaranteed to avoid a higher-ranked rival until at least the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
Polmans, whose home court is Kooyong, has a wildcard for the Australian Open and is looking to move beyond the second round for the first time.
"I put up a test in the first set," the 26-year-old Victorian said.
"But in the second set he (Sinner) showed his super high level."
