Sinner survives a five-set test, an awful fall and a bloodied shoe to begin his Wimbledon defence

Italian top seed Jannik Sinner came through a stern opening examination on Monday afternoon, recovering from a set down twice to beat Serb Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 and extend his Wimbledon winning streak to eight matches.

The defending champion was made to work for it against an opponent in fine touch, and had to overcome a scare of his own along the way. Sinner took a heavy fall in the third set, drawing blood that seeped visibly through his white shoe, but waved away any concern and played on without taking a stoppage

“It just seems much worse than it is,” he said afterwards. “I’m actually very surprised they let me keep playing – all white, and it turned into a little red. It’s just a nail. I didn’t want to disturb Miomir. We both had a good rhythm and it was a great match from both of us, so I didn’t want to take any time.”

Emotional Sinner

The match swung throughout. Kecmanovic took the opening set and, having been pegged back, edged a tight third on a tie-break to move ahead again, but Sinner steadied each time, raising his level in the fourth and fifth to assert the gap in class. It was a rare five-set victory for the world No 1, who has built his dominance on closing matches out long before a decider, and continued a run that has brought him 31 wins in his last 32 matches.

“It was a very very different feeling”, Sinner highlighted. “There’s a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the court. Also knowing mentally it’s such a prestigious court and such a historical court. Coming back here as defending champion means a lot to me. Even though every year is different and every year can be very very tough. So first of all very happy to win the first one. Of course we will try to aim for a couple improvements for the next match. But I can be very very happy.”

Borgest next

Jannik Sinner’s win over Miomir Kecmanovic is his third-longest at Wimbledon, at 3 hours and 28 minutes. Only his wins over Matteo Berrettini (2nd round, 2024) and Carlos Alcaraz (Round of 16, 2022) were longer. It was only the second time in his last 10 five-set matches that Sinner had come out on top.

He was the better player in the categories that decide the biggest matches, but on this occasion it was as much about the fight.

The result also placed Sinner in unusual company: it was the eighth time in the tournament’s history that a defending Wimbledon champion had dropped two sets in his opening match the following year, an echo of Carlos Alcaraz’s labour against Fabio Fognini in the 2025 first round.

Sinner, ranked No 1, will next face Portuguese Nuno Borges for a place in the third round.