Wimbledon’s opening day delivered plenty of drama Monday as defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner came dangerously close to a shocking first-round exit, while British players suffered a string of painful defeats and withdrawals.
Sinner entered the tournament as the heavy favorite to defend his title, especially with chief rival Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury. However, concerns about the Italian’s fitness had been building after he suffered a surprising second-round loss at the French Open. Those concerns seemed well-founded early in his match against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court, as Sinner dropped the first and third sets and appeared on the verge of becoming just the third defending men’s champion to fall in the opening round.
He ultimately rallied to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3 in a match that lasted three hours and 30 minutes — the third-longest of his Wimbledon career.
The victory was not without cost. Sinner took a fall in the third set and later appeared on court with blood staining his white shoe, the result of a broken toenail. Despite the grueling nature of the match, he downplayed the injury afterward.
Speaking to the Centre Court crowd, Sinner said: “It was a little tight in the beginning, I didn’t play at my best but I tried to get into it. It was my first official match on grass (this season) which is also a very important factor.”
“I’m happy I turned it around because the third set was a very tough one to swallow,” he added.
With a touch of humor, Sinner also remarked: “I’m actually surprised that they let me keep playing because my all white outfit turned into a little red.”
The win gave Sinner his 94th Grand Slam match victory, tying the Italian record previously held by Nicola Pietrangeli.
While Sinner advanced, two other seeded men were not so fortunate. Men’s 11th seed Casper Ruud fell to big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7), and 12th seed Andrey Rublev lost a five-set thriller to fellow Russian Roman Safiullin, dropping the deciding set tiebreaker 14-12 after squandering two match points.
Eighth seed Daniil Medvedev had no such trouble, cruising past former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on Court One — a match that disappointed fans who had expected to see Emma Raducanu in action before her pre-tournament withdrawal due to injury.
The day was especially difficult for British tennis. Jack Draper also announced he was pulling out of the tournament with an arm injury, joining Raducanu on the sidelines. Of the six British players who did compete, all six lost — including British number one Cameron Norrie, seeded 26th, who fell in five sets to American qualifier Michael Zheng.
On the women’s side, French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska suffered a heartbreaking defeat, losing 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew after falling and injuring herself while holding match point.
Naomi Osaka, seeded 14th, impressed both in fashion and on the court, defeating Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-5. American fourth seed Jessica Pegula beat Darja Vidmanova 7-5, 6-3, and Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic overcame young British wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic with relative ease.
Two young players from the next generation also made their mark. Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, energized by a loud crowd of fans in yellow soccer shirts, defeated Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-3. Rising Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, also 19 years old, made an impressive Wimbledon debut by beating British wildcard Felix Gill 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
