Jannik Sinner continues unbeaten start to year with win over Thanasi Kokkinakis

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner continued his unbeaten start to the year with a dominant victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis at Indian Wells.

The Italian followed up his Melbourne triumph by winning another title in Rotterdam. In his first match as world number three, he eased to a 6-3 6-0 win against Australian Kokkinakis.

Including his three singles victories in guiding Italy to Davis Cup success last November, Sinner has now won 16 matches in a row.

The 22-year-old, who could climb to second in the rankings this fortnight, said: “You always can set goal after goal and then, when you reach one goal, try to work hard for the next goal. I feel like I still have to improve many things.”

Another in-form player, Acapulco champion Alex De Minaur, raced to a 6-1 6-2 win over Taro Daniel in less than an hour.

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev also cruised to a straight sets win over Christopher O’Connell, while Tallon Griekspoor defeated Yannick Hanfmann 6-3 6-3.

Second seed Carlos Alcaraz dropped the first set but recovered to win 7-6 (5) 6-0 6-1 over Matteo Arnaldi.

Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild shocked 15th seed Karen Khachanov 6-1 7-5, Stefanos Tsitsipas took little more than an hour to dispatch Lucas Pouille and American 16th seed Ben Shelton escaped wild card Jakub Mensik 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Three-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber claimed her biggest victory since returning to the tour in January following the birth of daughter Liana a year ago.

The German came from a set down to defeat 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko 5-7 6-3 6-3, while Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova was a 6-0 6-2 winner against Bernarda Pera and world number one Iga Swiatek saw off Danielle Collins 6-3 6-0.

Caroline Wozniacki, who also recently returned to the tour after becoming a mother, followed in Kerber’s footsteps with a 7-6 (5) 6-3 win over Donna Vekic.

American Katie Volynets pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament when she defeated sixth seed Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4.

Other seeds, Marketa Vondrousova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Jasmine Paolini and Veronika Kudermetova, faced little turbulence as they each swept their way through to the third round.

They will be joined by world number one Iga Swiatek after she defeated Danielle Collins in dominant fashion 6-3 6-0.