Jannik Sinner avenges stinging French Open loss to Daniel Altmaier with straight-sets win in China

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SHANGHAI (AP) — Jannik Sinner made a solid start to his Shanghai Masters title defense, beating Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday to avenge a loss two years ago at the French Open.

The victory extended the second-ranked Sinner’s winning streak to six matches following his China Open title in Beijing on Wednesday.

“I knew before the match it was going to be very difficult today,” Sinner said. “I didn’t have a lot of time to adapt here. But it makes it even more special.”

Sinner hadn’t played Altmaier since the German beat him over five sets in the second round at Roland Garros in 2023 — when Sinner wasted two match points.

Sinner’s third-round opponent will be Tallon Griekspoor, who he leads 6-0 in career meetings.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from Shanghai due to a left ankle injury.

“Everything is different. It’s much more humid and it can feel much more physical here,” Sinner said when asked about adapting from Beijing to Shanghai. “I tried to rest. But it is difficult after you win a title. You have to have a great balance of practice. Obviously now the priority is to feel as good as I can physically for the next one.”

Seventh-seeded Alex de Minaur advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Camilo Ugo Carabelli after getting beat by Sinner in the Beijing semifinals.

In other early matches, Daniil Medvedev routed qualifier Dalibor Svrcina 6-1, 6-1; Yoshihito Nishioka upset 13th-seeded Andrey Rublev 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 12th-seeded Felix Auger Aliassime beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 6-3 and Kamil Majchrzak defeated Brandon Nakashima, the 29th-seeded American, 6-4, 6-0.

The top-seeded players received first-round byes.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis