Sinner Wins Five-Set Wimbledon Opener After Twice Trailing

Defending champion Jannik Sinner came back from a set down twice and recovered after a hard fall to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 in the first round at Wimbledon on Monday. The match on Centre Court lasted three hours and 30 minutes under sunny skies and 75-degree temperatures. Sinner produced 72 winners and 31 aces while committing 52 unforced errors.

Sinner said he felt "a little tight in the beginning" in his first grass-court match of the season. He lost the opening set before leveling the match at one set apiece. In the third set he hit a sliced stop-volley that drew applause, then fell hard while changing direction and landed on his left hip.

He rose quickly and continued, though blood later appeared through his right shoe. "It just seems much worse than it is. It's just a nail," Sinner said.

Kecmanovic saved a set point in the tiebreaker and took a two-sets-to-one lead when a Sinner backhand sailed long. Sinner later called the third set "a very tough one to swallow." He broke for a 5-2 lead in the fifth set as spectators, including David Beckham in the Royal Box, joined a Centre Court wave. Sinner closed out the match and shared an embrace with Kecmanovic at the net.

Sinner had not played since losing in five sets at the French Open after feeling dizzy in heat. Carlos Alcaraz, the player he defeated in last year's Wimbledon final, is absent with a right wrist injury. Sinner said the occasion carried extra nerves.

"There's a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the court," he said. " "We will try to aim for a couple of improvements for the next match," Sinner said after the victory.