Jannik Sinner continued his hot streak of form to race into the third round of the Australian Open for the third successive year with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong on Wednesday, while US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton advanced over local hope Chris O'Connell.
Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian fourth seed favored by some to win at Melbourne Park after a stellar finish to last season, dominated the world No. 161 under the closed roof on Margaret Court Arena.
Sinner, who had seven aces and 26 winners, did not face a break point over the entire contest while winning an impressive 45% of his return points.
"I played really well. I served good, returned also well, so it was a good match today," Sinner said. "Now let's see what's coming in the next round."
There were sympathetic cheers from the crowd when De Jong finally got on the scoreboard in the final set, but Sinner was soon serving out to love to book a meeting with Sebastian Baez, who defeated Daniel Elahi Galan 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Following his win, Sinner joked that he dreams of beefing up and having a physique like that of the actors in the 1990s television series "Baywatch."
"Tomorrow I have a day off, trying to practice myself into match rhythm. I also will go to the gym. Even if you can't see it, I'm skinny ... but it's OK," Sinner said.
Asked how much he weighed, the Italian quipped: "It's a secret, guys. Of course it's all muscle. Unfortunately not, but it's OK. I'm happy with my physicality at the moment. Of course it's a dream to have the 'Baywatch' physique, but it's OK."
Shelton, the No. 16 seed, recorded a 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) over O'Connell. Shelton had match points in the 12th game of the fourth set but couldn't convert and needed two more in the tiebreaker before advancing.
A quarterfinalist in his Australian Open debut last year, Shelton said he enjoyed the atmosphere that the home crowd gave O'Connell and said he could still hear the chant "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi" in his sleep.
In other men's results, unseeded Czech player Tomas Machac stunned 17th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Next up for world No. 75 Machac is a meeting with 15th-seeded Karen Khachanov, who defeated another American with a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Alex De Minaur, the 10th-seeded Australian, defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. The 24-year-old from Sydney benefited from a retirement in the first round, and Australia's recent Davis Cup final loss to Italy was on his mind during his win Wednesday.
"I thought I just had to be solid here, just use the crowd," De Minaur said. "It's no secret that it was heartbreaking to lose the Davis Cup final at the end of last year ... today was a little bit of revenge for Australia."
De Minaur will next play Flavio Cobolli, an Italian qualifier who beat Pavel Kotov 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. No. 12-seeded American Taylor Fritz also advanced, making light work of Hugo Gaston 6-0, 6-3, 6-1, and No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry eased past Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch a spot in the third round.
Stefanos Tsitsipas bounced back from an error-driven first set loss to beat Australian opponent Jordan Thompson 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4), with the world No. 7 hitting eight more aces and 22 more winners than Thompson. Tsitsipas will face 19-year-old Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the third round.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.