Defending champion Sinner comes back to beat Kecmanovic in 5 sets in 1st round of Wimbledon

Defending champion Jannik Sinner had to come back from a set down twice and regain his composure following a worrisome tumble to the grass in a five-set victory over 50th-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of Wimbledon on Monday.

A month after his French Open meltdown, the top-ranked Sinner produced a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 win that lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes in the honorary opening match on Centre Court reserved for the past year’s men’s singles champion. Sinner said he was “a little tight in the beginning,” noting that it was his first grass-court match of the season.
“I’m happy that I turned it around,” Sinner said.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, remains the only Wimbledon men’s singles winner in the professional era (since 1968) to have lost in the first round the following year. The Australian was defeated by Ivo Karlovic in his 2003 opener.

Sinner hadn’t played an official match since he struggled with dizziness during a heat wave at Roland Garros, where after being within one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets, he was beaten by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in five. The match with Kecmanovic was played in ideal conditions, with sunny skies and the temperature 24 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit).

Sinner is a big favorite to repeat as Wimbledon champion since his main rival Carlos Alcaraz, who he beat in last year’s final, is missing the championships due to a right wrist injury.
Sinner felt the pressure from the honors reserved for the defending champion. “It was a very, very different feeling,” he said. “There’s a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the court. Also mentally knowing it’s such a prestige court and such a historical court.”