By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
World number one Jannik Sinner survived a huge scare to beat Miomir Kecmanovic in five sets and ensure his Wimbledon defence did not fall at the first hurdle.
Sinner was pushed to the brink of becoming the third male defending champion to lose in the first round before battling back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 6-3.
Trailing by two sets to one, the Italian dug deep to win his first five-set match in his last six attempts.
Sinner’s gutsy victory in three hours and 28 minutes was all the more commendable after he injured his right foot in an awkward fall that left his shoe covered in blood.
“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,” Sinner told the Centre Court crowd.
“I’m happy I turned it around because the third set was a very tough one to swallow.”
Meanwhile men’s 11th and 12th seeds Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev bowed out. Ruud was handed a tough draw in the shape of big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz and duly lost 6-4 6-2 7-6(7) while Rublev was edged out in a five-set cliffhanger against fellow Russian Roman Safiullin, losing a decider set tiebreaker 14-12 after missing two match points.
Elsewhere Japan’s Naomi Osaka once again dressed to impress and her tennis shone too as the 14th seed beat Elsa Jacquemot 6-1 7-5.
American fourth seed Jessica Pegula beat Darja Vidmanova 7-5 6-3 while Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic had far too much experience for young British wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic.