Sawt Falasteen - Sinner serves up impressive Doha win on his return

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Sinner serves up impressive Doha win on his return / Photo: Karim JAAFAR - AFP

Sinner serves up impressive Doha win on his return

SPORTS 16.02.2026

Jannik Sinner cruised to victory over Tomas Machac in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Monday in his first match since his unsuccessful Australian Open title defence.

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The world number two eased past the 31st-ranked Czech 6-1, 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with Alexei Popyrin in Doha, where Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed this week.

It was a convincing return to action for Sinner after his semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park last month. The Italian lost just six points across his nine service games.

Sinner raced through the first set in under half an hour but Machac improved in the second.

A break in the fifth game still proved enough for the four-time Grand Slam champion, although he needed five match points to close it out.

J.Saleh--SF-PST

Sawt Falasteen - Sinner serves up impressive Doha win on his return

Sinner serves up impressive Doha win on his return

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