Jannik Sinner overcomes slow start to reach third round

Good afternoon and welcome to second-round Wimbledon coverage of Jannik Sinner versus Nuno Borges.

Sinner, the defending champion, struggled in his opener against Miomir Kecmanovic, with the Serbian taking the top seed to five sets. The world No 1 awkwardly slipped in the third set and required medical attention but prevailed in the end, coming through 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3.

The match on Monday was not short of drama and incident. Sinner seemed to be struggling with a foot injury that turned his white shoes red but said afterwards it was nothing to worry about.

“Look, the foot is all good, it just seems much worse than it is,” Sinner said. “It’s just a toenail. I didn’t want to disturb Miomir [and take a medical time-out]. I think we both had a good rhythm. It was a great match from both of us.”

Borges had a much easier time in his first-round match. The 29-year-old from Portugal saw off Tristan Boyer in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. Borges reached the third round last year which was a marked improvement on his previous showings at SW19 – three first-round exits in a row prior. 

This is a second meeting between the two players, with Sinner leading the head-to-head 1-0. The Italian will no doubt be looking to maintain that winning record.