Jannik Sinner shifts into high gear at the decisive moment: Miomir Kecmanovic concedes after five sets
Jannik Sinner is back: after a month away from official matches (between Roland Garros and today, he played and won only one exhibition match against Cameron Norrie), the world No. 1 advanced in the first round of Wimbledon, though not without a struggle against Miomir Kecmanovic, who managed to rattle his highly favored opponent on more than one occasion; however, Sinner’s shift into high gear in the final two sets ultimately proved decisive. Final score: 4-6, 6-3, 6(6)-7, 6-2, 6-3 in three hours and thirty-two minutes of play.
In the first set, Sinner suffered from too many lapses and a noticeable lack of consistency from the baseline, managing to stay in the match almost exclusively thanks to an excellent performance on serve (with six aces). The initial balance was broken at 4-4 when the Italian, leading 40-15 on his own serve, suddenly made things difficult for himself with a series of unforced errors and two consecutive double faults, handing Kecmanovic the decisive break. The Serbian, ice-cold, capitalized immediately afterward to close out the set 6-4 with a dominant love game.
After an unusual number of errors in the first set, the world No. 1 bounced back immediately, closing out the second set 6-3. Sinner easily held his first service game and, immediately afterward, broke Kecmanovic’s serve thanks to an excellent down-the-line forehand. The Italian consolidated his lead to 3-0 by relying on his serve, only to concede the first game of the set to the Serb after a string of too many unforced errors from the baseline. The world No. 1 remained unfazed and surged to a 4-1 lead with a love game capped off by his tenth ace of the match, while Kecmanovic saved himself in the next game thanks to a surgical drop shot. After a burst of pride from the Serbian, who narrowed the gap to 5-3, Sinner went to serve for the set: despite his fourth double fault of the match, the Italian kept his cool and closed out the set 6-3 with his eleventh ace of the day, tying the match at one set apiece.
Serves dominated the start of the third set, but then came a big scare in the fifth game: the Italian, while trying to retrieve a ball, slipped on the grass, twisting his left knee and hitting his hip. The nasty fall startled the crowd, but the South Tyrolean didn’t seem to be affected by it and continued playing as usual, without requesting medical attention. In the seventh game, Kecmanovic saved three break points, while Sinner held his service games more solidly, even though he continued to make several unforced errors. The set was thus decided in a tiebreak: after leading 3-0, the world No. 1 saw his lead erased to 5-5, then lost 8-6, dropping the set.
The final two sets were much more one-sided in Sinner’s favor: in the fourth set, the South Tyrolean won four consecutive games starting at 2-2, while in the fifth set he secured the decisive break that put him up 4-2; from there on, he never looked back, closing out the match in his favor.
