Melbourne, Jan 14 (IANS): Jannik Sinner made a winning start to his 2024 season on Sunday’s historic opening day of play at the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory against Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.

In his first outing since guiding Italy to Davis Cup glory in November, Sinner suffered a bizarre slump at the beginning of the third before he closed out a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Sinner, who reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park last year and the quarter-finals in 2022, enters this year's tournament at a career-high No. 4 in the ATP Rankings.

In his first major as a top-four seed, he was forced to dig into his bank of tennis smarts to keep the world No.59 at bay in two hours and 34 minutes.

While below his best, Sinner picked off 26 winners, the same number as his opponent, but his 37 unforced errors were eight fewer than Van de Zandschulp’s.

He next meets another Dutchman, qualifier Jesper de Jong, or Argentine Pedro Cachin for a place in the third round.