Jannik Sinner made an assured return to action with a straight-sets victory over Tomas Machac in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Monday.

Playing his first match since an unsuccessful Australian Open title defence, the world number two dispatched the 31st-ranked Czech 6-1, 6-4 to book a second-round meeting with Alexei Popyrin in Doha. Top seed this week is Carlos Alcaraz, adding further intrigue to the draw.

It marked a convincing comeback for Sinner following his semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park last month. The Italian was particularly dominant on serve, losing just six points across nine service games in a display of control and precision.

Sinner stormed through the opening set in under 30 minutes, breaking early and repeatedly pressuring Machac with aggressive baseline hitting. Although the Czech raised his level in the second set and made it more competitive, a crucial break in the fifth game proved decisive.

The four-time Grand Slam champion required five match points to seal the win, but there was little doubt about the outcome as he wrapped up a comfortable victory to begin his Doha campaign in style.