Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner made a winning return to action at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam by defeating Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3 6-3.
Top seed Sinner, playing his first match since winning his maiden Grand Slam title last month in Melbourne, secured victory in an hour and 26 minutes and will face France’s Gael Monfils in the second round.
Sinner broke his Dutch opponent, who he comfortably beat in the first round at the Australian Open, twice in the opening set.
The Italian world No 4 made a third and decisive break to move 2-0 up in the second set and after letting slip two match points at 5-2 up, he served out with minimum fuss.
“I mean, it’s we work for these moments, no? To come back and then playing in front of the fans. And obviously, we were working a lot in Monaco, but, you know, there are not the same indoor courts as here,” Sinner said after his win.
“So I wanted to come here, to feel the court a little bit and, happy about my first win here. It was tough, he’s a really, really great player. And, I was looking forward to it.
“So the first one is always a little bit different than (other matches) and let’s see what’s coming in the next round.”
Wild card Monfils defeated Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5), while there were also wins for third seed Holger Rune and sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Fifth seed Alex De Minaur eased through to the last eight, beating Belgium’s David Goffin 6-3 6-1.
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