Jannik Sinner dug deep with a blood-stained white trainer to snap his five-set losing streak and begin the defence of his Wimbledon title with victory over Miomir Kecmanovic.
The 2025 champion in SW19 had not played competitively since a shock second-round loss at the French Open last month and looked in trouble on day one against inspired Serbian rival Kecmanovic, especially after a painful slip in set three on Centre Court.
Sinner battled on despite blood being visible through his right Nike trainer and banished painful memories of five-set defeats to Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Novak Djokovic at majors earlier this year to triumph 4-6 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-2 6-3.
Victory in three hours and 30 minutes will answer some questions of Sinner’s durability after he had lost eight of his previous nine five-set matches, including five in a row before this nervy win.
After Sinner lost a close tight-break in set three, the four-time grand-slam winner rediscovered his best form to win five games in a row and a 31st ace of a gruelling contest helped the Italian get the better of Kecmanovic to progress into round two.
“I was a little tight at the beginning, I didn’t play my very best but I tried to get into it and it was my first official match on grass. I am very happy and a big honour to play in front of you,” Sinner said.
Quizzed on the red on his trainer, Sinner said: “No, I am good. It just seems much worse than it is!
“Actually very surprised they let me keep playing because (normally) all white and (now) a little red, but no I didn’t want to disturb. We both had a good rhythm, it was a great match from both of us and I didn’t want to take any time.
“There is a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the courts and also mentally knowing it is such a prestigious court, a historic court and coming here as defending champion meant a lot. I am very happy to win the first one.”
Novak Djokovic marked his 21st appearance at Wimbledon with a late-night victory over Wu Yibing but only after a brief scare on Centre Court.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic was the final act of day one of the Championships, but looked set to return on Tuesday to complete his match when Wu moved 0-40 up on the Serbian’s serve at 3-2 up in the fourth set.
However, Djokovic displayed his trademark powers of recovery to hold and then break his Chinese rival to close out an entertaining 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory, which sets up a second-round meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime raced through his tie with Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets and Daniil Medvedev produced an equally assured display to down Marin Cilic 6-1 6-2 6-4 on Court One.
Tommy Paul wasted little time on court and booked his second round spot after 73 minutes against Alexandre Muller and Joao Fonseca, the 24th seed, eased through with a straight-sets triumph over Roberto Bautista Agut.
Seeds toppled earlier in the day with Andrey Rublev dumped out after a titanic battle with compatriot Roman Safiullin, who triumphed 6-4 6-7 (6) 3-6 6-3 7-6 (12) over the 12th seed during a three-hour-58-minute battle on Court 16.
The 11th seed Casper Ruud exited after a straight-sets loss to 2021 semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz, but highly rated teenager and 23rd seed Rafael Jodar won his first tour-level match on grass in rapid fashion against British wild card Felix Gill inside two hours.
Denis Shapovalov had to retire after he collided with a fence during his match with Pablo Carreno Busta while Camilo Ugo Carabelli also withdrew as he suffered an ankle injury in a slip versus Daniel Merida Aguilar.
