Sinner comes through a tighter test than the score suggests to reach the last 32
Two days after a five-set scare, Jannik Sinner (No 1) came through a tighter test than the score shows, beating Nuno Borges 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon last 32, his winning run at the tournament now at nine.
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2026 | © Photo News / PsNewz
Italian top seed Jannik Sinner moved into the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday afternoon, beating Portuguese Nuno Borges 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4 in a match closer than the straight-sets scoreline suggests, and extending his winning run at the All England Club to nine matches.
Two days on from a five-set opening scare against Miomir Kecmanovic, the defending champion was made to work again, even as the result never quite slipped from his grasp. The opening two sets were dominated by serve, with few extended exchanges, and both went to tie-breaks that Sinner controlled once he got there.
The second was the more precarious: he recovered a break (1-3, 2-5, 3-5) and saved a set point at 5-4 on Borges’ serve, before taking the breaker 7-6 (2), a passage that might have hauled Borges level. Having negotiated it, Sinner pulled clear with a single break in the third to close out a win built on 22 aces and a steadily rising level.
“The second set was very, very tough,” Sinner said afterwards. “We were both serving very well, so there were not a lot of exchanges. These are the kind of matches where you don’t have a lot of control, so I’m very happy to win, especially here on this surface.”
I felt a lack of matches, and today there were a couple of moments where I needed to get back into rhythm
Having arrived at Wimbledon short of match play following his Roland-Garros campaign, he acknowledged the rust had not entirely gone. “Especially in the first match I felt a lack of matches, and today there were a couple of moments where I needed to get back into rhythm,” he said. “But if you look at the scoreboard, it was very close, and these matches help me a lot. We aim to keep improving.”
It was Sinner’s fifth consecutive appearance in the Wimbledon third round, and continued a season of relentless consistency in which he has won 32 of his last 33 matches. He remained clear-eyed about the work still to do on a surface he has yet to fully master this fortnight, but the trajectory was upward, the first-round resilience giving way to a sharper, more assured display.
Sinner, ranked No 1, will next face American Jenson Brooksby for a place in the fourth round.
