Jannik Sinner drops two sets in first round scare against Miomir Kecmanovic
London: Jannik Sinner was sick and upset in his final competitive tennis match as he went on to a stunning defeat at Roland-Garros as he sought to complete his career Grand Slam.
But the world No. 1 Italian might have felt worse when he conceded the opening set and then the third set of his Wimbledon title defense on Monday to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, who had never won a set in his four previous meetings with Sinner.
In fact, Kecmanovic managed to win just seven games from him in the round of 32 at the All England club two years ago, claiming just a top-five scalp in 13 attempts.
What could have been a disastrous result instead turned into a fortnight-saving victory for Sinankar, who challenged her crushing five-set record to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3. He is currently 7-12 at five-putters in his grand slam career.
It was the 24-year-old superstar’s first five-set win since erasing a two-set lead against Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open final, ending a five-match losing streak in long-distance matches.
In doing so, Sinner narrowly avoided becoming the fifth defending male or female champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon. That list includes Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who became the top seed in 2003 when he suffered a four-set defeat against the great Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
“It’s a great honor to start the tournament as the first player to appear here. [as defending champion]said the Sinner.
“I was a little nervous at the beginning and wasn’t at my best, so in my first official match on grass, I tried to get into the game. [this year]. I’m so glad I managed to turn the situation around [because] “The third set was a very hard one to swallow.”
Sinner’s only warm-up match on grass was in a low-key display against Brit Cameron Norrie at Fulham in the south of England last week, in the midst of the country’s record heatwave – he won the match without much fuss, which naturally brought back kryptonite memories of the weather.
His shock two sets and 5-1 defeat to unheralded Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo in Paris last month ended his 30-match winning streak, during which he pocketed five Masters titles and looked virtually unchallenged.
Sinner was by then the irrevocable favorite to win the title, given that his great rival Carlos Alcaraz, who won the grand slam set at this year’s Australian Open, was sidelined with an ankle injury that also kept him out of Wimbledon.
He later insisted he was ill, and despite his mid-match collapse in temperatures north of 30 degrees, it wasn’t like he was floundering again in the heat.
London’s weather may be more tolerable this week, but will gradually improve next Monday, so the Sinner is almost certain to deal with challenging conditions at some stage.
Sinner’s four-set victory over Alcaraz in last year’s final earned her the privilege of playing midfield in her opening match at Wimbledon. He admitted that this incident got on his nerves and contributed to his late start and overall below-par performance.
Few things came easy this afternoon for the usually graceful and unflappable Sinner; this included an underlying leak that left his right shoe bloody.
Losing the first set was a mild shock, but the assumption was that he would bounce back with a vengeance.
But Sinner’s excitement was clearly visible on the second point of the second set when she pulled a forehand wide and threw her hands up in horror.
He broke Kecmanovic for the first time a few points later, but even then it was only after a slight forehand hit before the Italian did a clumsy somersault at the back of the court when his opponent’s backhand crashed into the net.
Continuing the trend, Sinner needed to survive another break point to level the match.
The theory was that this could break the shackles. Instead, Sinner somehow barely reached her own net-side service area with a shot attempt on the second point of the third set.
He shot two more shots at the goal in the following minutes.
The Sinner isn’t normally one to show his emotions outwardly, but after taking his final shots, he stood motionless for a brief moment with his hands on his hips, contemplating his sizzling performance.
Another potential circuit breaker followed. Sinner fired a magnificent volley that spun at right angles causing Kecmanovic to lose hope of following it up.
The crowd at center field was jubilant, and Sinner embraced that admiration. But when he fell behind the baseline again two points later, the same fans could be heard gasping.
The No.1 seed was down long enough for chair referee Alison Hughes to come out and check on him – but he was fine as he ended up taking part in the match as well.
Order appeared to be restored when Sinner took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak, but Kecmanovic hit a superb backhand to draw level. Even better was coming from Serbia.
Using the designated point downwards, Kecmanovic unleashed a series of superb shots to outscore Sinner, whose desperate dive to secure the point was ultimately fruitless. But the Italian was impressed enough by Kecmanovic’s efforts to give him a “five” as the sides switched.
Two points later, Kecmanovic was up two sets to one and approaching a massive upset. But he had already thrown his best punch.
Facing a potentially historic defeat, Sinner played her best tennis of the match to defeat Kecmanovic 4-2 in the fourth set and from then on the outcome was inevitable.
Previously, Aleks Vukic became the first Australian to leave the tournament, losing to American Jenson Brooksby 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 and 6-1 after holding consecutive set points in the first set. Brooksby escaped the contest after taking a 4-0 lead in the second minute, aided by an increase in Vukic’s existing medial collateral ligament strain.
“The first set was tight, then the second set went by in the blink of an eye and I started to feel my knee a little bit,” Vukic told this imprint.
“He’s a good front runner, once he starts feeling the ball and he doesn’t give it too much credit, he had a good match and the first set was definitely crucial.”
Andrey Rublev was the first major casualty in a five-set loss to Russian Roman Safiullin, while Casper Ruud continued his horror Wimbledon record, but Naomi Osaka and American stars Jessica Pegula and Learner Tien were among the winners.
Marc McGowan traveled to London with the support of Tennis Australia.
Watch Wimbledon on Monday (AEST) from 7.30pm on Nine Network and Stan Sport.
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