Jannik Sinner’s Wimbledon title defense did not get off to a routine start — but it was a victorious start nonetheless.
Sinner, who was hoping to avoid an early exit similar to the one he endured in round two of the French Open against Juan Manuel Cerundolo — battled past Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3 on Monday afternoon. The top-ranked Italian dropped a dramatic third-set tiebreaker but dominated the remainder of the match to advance after three hours and 30 minutes.
“I’m very happy of course being back on this beautiful tournament,” Sinner said following a win that will be remembered in part for bizarre bleeding through his shoe that he attributed to a toenail issue. “First match is never easy, as we saw. (It was) my first official match on grass court after a year. So (I’m) very happy about today’s match, even though (it was) a tough one.”
After Sinner played the opening match of the tournament on Centre Court (per tradition for the defending champ), Djokovic played the nightcap in front of the Royal Box patrons — which included former English soccer star David Beckham. The 39-year-old Serb was also tested, but he held off Yibing Wu 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
“I started well, and I liked my chances to maybe win in straights,” Djokovic assessed. “He just took the tennis to a different level that was really impressive. I mean, (he was) serving, returning incredibly deep and strong and fast shots that he played from both ends of the court and from the baseline — backhand and forehand. At one point there was no weakness, really.
“Of course, I dropped my level — but that’s also due to his consistency and just great, great attacking, aggressive tennis. I was really hanging on the ropes in the fourth. I mean, I probably should have lost that set to be honest with the opportunities he had. I guess I managed to find the right serve at the right time…. The match was toe-to-toe, honestly. One or two shots, one or two points decided the winner.”
Similarly small margins were probably expected for what was a highly anticipated showdown between Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper on Tuesday. However, Draper — Great Britain’s best hope to make a deep run at the All-England Club — announced his withdrawal due to an arm injury on Monday afternoon.
tough one for the Fox
He played very poorly. Novak played much better.