Jannik Sinner’s tricky start to his Wimbledon title defence continued as he overcame a stern second-round test against Nuno Borges.
The world number one needed three-and-a-half hours to battle past an inspired Miomir Kecmanovic in five entertaining sets on Monday.
But the Italian looked more assured as he returned to Centre Court two days later and patiently ground out a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win against a resilient Borges.
Ranked 48th in the world, Portugal’s Borges thrilled the crowd and was the better player at times, but Sinner upped his level when it mattered before charging through the third set to seal his ninth straight victory at the All England Club.
“That is just what the doctor ordered. Highly competitive and he lifted his game,” three-time Wimbledon singles champion John McEnroe said on BBC TV.
“He is going to go into Friday feeling a lot better than he was on Monday.”
Sinner will face American Jenson Brooksby, the world number 81, next.
Sinner opted against contesting a grass tournament in the lead-up to Wimbledon, despite suffering a seismic second-round loss at the French Open at the end of May.
When he squeezed past the 50th-ranked Kecmanovic in a match where he lacked sharpness and struggled physically, it felt like the decision could come back to haunt him.
While still not quite at his metronomic best against Borges, striking 29 unforced errors, this was an improvement on his performance against Kecmanovic.
“I need to get back to the rhythm, but if you look at the scoreboard it was very close and matches like these help me a lot,” Sinner said.
“There are obviously a couple of things to improve, but I’m very happy.”
In a tight opening first set, Borges impressed with a mix of hard hitting and delicate drop shots, but he faded towards the back end of the tie-break and Sinner asserted control.
Sinner did not face a single break point in the opener, but the briefest of blips allowed Borges to take a break lead early in the second set.
However, when he tried to serve it out and level the tie, the 29-year-old tightened up, missed a set point and gifted Sinner the break back with another unforced error.
More misses cost him in the resulting tie-break as Sinner charged through, and the four-time major winner recovered from a poor opening service game in the third set to seal victory after two hours and 32 minutes.
“When you look at the end result then that is pretty good, especially considering the way Borges played in the first two sets. He could’ve easily lost either of those sets,” said 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It isn’t all flowing yet for Sinner, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. If he can get his forehands ticking at 95% then that would be good.”
