WIMBLEDON, England — After his stunning second-round exit at Roland Garros just over a month ago, many expected Jannik Sinner to make some statements at Wimbledon’s opener on Monday.
He did, but it wasn’t what he wanted.
Rather than return to the dominant level he had displayed all spring before the French Open, winning all five Masters 1000-level tournaments, Sinner looked vulnerable again and had to fight his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 victory over world No. 50 Miomir Kecmanovic. The defending champions, who are heavy favorites going into the tournament, raised questions and showed this could be another wide-open major for the sport’s top men.
“It was a little tough at first,” Sinner told the crowd after the match. “I didn’t play my best, but I tried to give it my all. It was my first game on grass (this season), which is also very important. I’m glad we came back from behind.”
Before Roland Garros, no player other than Sinner or Alcaraz had won a men’s Grand Slam title since 2023, and it seemed unlikely that trend would reverse anytime soon. And with Carlos Alcaraz sidelined for an extended period with a wrist injury, the 24-year-old Sinner was widely expected to dominate the natural court surface majors this season.
But, of course, that didn’t happen. Sinner, clearly suffering from the sweltering afternoon sun amidst the Parisian heatwave, once held a commanding lead in the third set before losing in the second round to Juan Manuel Cerundro in five sets. He lost 18 straight points and lost seven games during the meltdown. Sinner said he had struggled many times in the heat, experiencing dizziness, fatigue and weakness.
Afterwards, Sinner did not compete in the lead-in event on grass, choosing instead to focus on recovery and training. He said he arrived in London “quite early” to get a feel for the tournament’s grass and worked with his team on “minutiae and small changes” in hopes of being better prepared for Wimbledon and future heat.
“We are doing everything we can,” Sinner told reporters at the All England Club on Saturday. “I’m very happy with the work I’ve done over the last two and a half weeks. It’s been a long time. I feel like I’m ready.”
During a practice session with Novak Djokovic recorded for the BBC last week, the seven-time Wimbledon champion told Sinner to enjoy the moment as he exited for his first match.
“I don’t think there’s a comparable feeling in tennis when you walk onto the fresh grass of center court as the defending champion,” he said.
On Monday, with temperatures at the start of the game at a comfortable 73 degrees Fahrenheit and a near-capacity crowd eager for his return, everything appeared to be in place for Sinner’s usual victory. IBM watsonx gave him a 76% win rate to start, and he held a 4-0 record against Kecmanovic. But Sinner admitted he was overcome with emotion on the court in the excitement of returning to the place where he achieved the milestone victory in 2025.
“It was a very, very different feeling,” Sinner said on court. “I get very nervous when I walk down the stairs behind the court. So mentally, it means a lot to me to come back here as a defending champion knowing that this is a very prestigious court, a very historic court. Even though every year is different, every year can be very tough.”
During the press conference, he said that the moments before taking to the court were “very nerve-wracking,” adding that there was another level of discomfort since no one had even practiced on the Center Court grass before this year’s tournament.
“(The grass) was brand new,” he said. “Mentally I understand that.”
All of those anxious feelings were on display. He committed 10 unforced errors in the first eight games of the match (15 total in the first set), then committed back-to-back double faults and was broken in the ninth game. Kecmanovic finished the set by winning all the points in the final game.
And some of Sinner’s concerns about untested grass also came true. He fell hard behind the baseline during the third set and was unable to get back up quickly. Shortly after, my right foot started bleeding through the sneaker. But after losing the third set in a tiebreak, while he changed his shirt, he never changed his sneakers or even looked at his feet. He later explained that it was caused by a toenail, but said it didn’t affect him at all. “No, it was good,” he told reporters. “It’s okay.”
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Jannik Sinner’s awkward fall leaves his leg bleeding vs. Kecmanovic
The longer the match dragged on, the less hopeful it was for Sinner, who had lost all of his previous five matches to deciding sets and whose memories of Paris were still fresh. Kecmanovic felt the same way. When asked if what happened to Sinner at Roland Garros was a reminder that favorites are human and can lose, he agreed.
“I mean, yeah,” Kecmanovic said. “If you’re expecting to play four hours in 40-degree weather, you’re right. You know it’s going to take a lot of good things, a lot of good plays to get there.”
Other players probably watched Monday’s game and wondered if they had a chance against Sinner, especially when he wasn’t at his best.
Sinner will next face No. 48 ranked Nuno Borges on Wednesday, but Sinner said he was looking forward to adjusting and finding the “right rhythm” on Tuesday. The only match Sinner ever won was on an indoor hard court nearly four years ago. Borges reached the semi-finals last week against Mallorca and is on a roll.
If Sinner advances on Wednesday, he will face the winner of the match between No. 31 seed Ignacio Buse and Jenson Brooksby. One of two rising stars, 23rd seed Rafael Jodal or Mallorca runner-up Ethan Quinn, is likely to await in the fourth round, and both could be spoilers. 2021 US Open champion and eighth seed Daniil Medvedev could be Sinner’s quarterfinal opponent, making it an even more dangerous matchup. Medvedev pushed Sinner to deciding sets in both meetings this season, and defeated Sinner in the 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinals.
And perhaps no one benefits from Sinner’s vulnerability more than Djokovic. The two could meet in the semi-finals, and Djokovic will do everything he can to defeat his younger rival, armed with his wealth of experience and success on grass, and with time inevitably running out on his dream of winning a record-setting 25th major title. Djokovic, 39, accomplished just that in the same round at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these players mentioned have to study what went wrong for Sinner on Monday and believe they can push him too.
But still, despite his struggles with Kecmanovic and the looming challenge of Borges, Sinner was satisfied with how the defending champion went on his first outing at the All England Club.
“It was a really great day to feel this way at least once in your life,” he said. “Yes, I think I still handled the situation well. Yes, I was very nervous, but I’m very happy that I found a way today.”
