Jannik Sinner kicked off his Wimbledon title defense with a scare, securing a demanding five-set victory against Miomir Kecmanovic with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3. The match lasted three and a half hours, but the world No. 1 ultimately prevailed, winning the final two sets.
Sinner acknowledged that he wasn’t playing his best tennis, committing 52 unforced errors, even before a more concerning moment occurred: Sinner slipped and fell on the grass court.
Despite appearing to be in pain and possibly injuring his knee due to the unnatural bending of his legs, Sinner got back up and refused a medical timeout. However, following his fall, red stains appeared on his right foot, spreading onto his white shoe.
During his press conference, Sinner clarified that the issue was simply a toenail. “I’m okay. It just looks a lot worse than it is. Actually, I’m very surprised that they let me keep playing because… my shoe, which was all white, it turned a bit red. It’s just a toenail,” the Italian explained. He opted not to change his shoes to maintain his match rhythm, and he didn’t change them during the breaks between sets either.
“I didn’t want to disturb Miomir. I think we both had a good rhythm. It was a great match from both of us. I didn’t want to waste time.” Jannik Sinner is set to face Nuno Borges on Wednesday.