Fresh out of surviving an exacting second-round match against compatriot Matteo Berrettini, Jannik Sinner takes on Miomir Kecmanovic in Friday's Wimbledon third-round match.
The world No. 1 was stretched against the 2021 finalist, and he hopes to build on coming through the intense match against his opponent who got the better of seeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in five sets.
Match preview
Sinner's all-Italian match against Berrettini was minutes away from the 11pm curfew when the most consistent player of the men's singles draw notched a third tie-break on the night to avoid having the match spill over to Thursday.
The top seed overcame the 2021 runner-up 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(4) after three hours and 45 minutes on Centre Court to avoid an early exit against the grass-court specialist in an awfully close match.
While the Australian Open winner is on course to at least match last year's semi-final run, where he could meet defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the manner of the Italian's two dropped sets in rounds one and two must be bothersome.
In a far more straightforward four-setter against Yannick Hanfmann in the first round, Sinner lost set three after uncharacteristically suffering a dip in application and execution. Even if he recovered against the German to win 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, a similar drop-off against Berrettini could have been punished with the match going to a decisive fifth set.
It remains to be seen if the same pattern is repeated on Friday, as the tournament co-favourite returns to action at the third Slam of the year, but his camp will hope for a routine three-setter.
Standing in the 22-year-old's way to reaching at least the third round in three consecutive years is Kecmanovic, whose battling qualities were evident in Wednesday's exciting five-set win over No. 27 seed Griekspoor.
The Serbian overcame Sumit Nagal in four sets in round one but needed five against the Dutchman, having twice trailed before recovering from two sets to one down to notch the fourth and fifth in a 4-6, 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Particularly pivotal in making the third round at the All England Club was the Serbian claiming the second-set tie-break where he faced set points at 6-5 and 7-6 before notching three points on the trot to level the match one set all.
Such fine margins could decide his fate against the consistent Sinner, whose 2024 has bettered everyone else on the ATP Tour.
Having already matched his best-ever Wimbledon run — third round in 2022 — Kecmanovic faces an uphill battle reaching a new high on Friday.
Tournament so far
Jannik Sinner:
First round: vs. Yannick Hanfmann 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3
Second round: vs. Matteo Berrettini 7-6[3] 7-6[4] 2-6 7-6[4]
Miomir Kecmanovic:
First round: vs. Sumit Nagal 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-4
Second round: vs. Tallon Griekspoor 4-6 7-6[7] 1-6 6-2 6-3
Head To Head
Next Gen (2019) - Semi-final: Sinner 2-4 4-1 4-2 4-2
Adelaide (2021) - Quarter-final: Sinner 7-6 (10) 6-4
Cincinnati Masters (2022) - Round of 32: Sinner 7-5 3-1 ret
Sinner and Kecmanovic will face off for the fourth time on Friday — their first on a grass court — with the world No. 1 chasing a fourth win over the 24-year-old after three victories on hard courts.
The pair's rivalry began at the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals where the Italian overcame a first-set setback to win 2-4, 4-1, 4-2, 4-2.
Following that was a meeting nearly two years after that 2019 match-up, with Sinner triumphing at an ATP event in Adelaide 7-6(10), 6-4 before a third encounter at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati was not completed after the Serbian was forced to retire in the second — he trailed 7-5, 3-1.
Sinner comes into Friday's fourth match-up in superior form, underlined by a first tour-level grass-court title in Halle. In contrast, Kecmanovic was eliminated in the first round in Halle and only made it to the quarter-finals in Eastbourne.
No player had won as many matches as the Italian (38) heading into Wimbledon or matched the No. 1 seed's four title triumphs in 2024 before the third major.
We say: Sinner to win in four sets
Sinner ideally should be backed to clinch this third-round match in straight sets. However, the ongoing battle to maintain his lofty levels for that long means we are backing Kecmanovic to force this match to four sets on Friday.
The top-ranked player may well get it done in three, but this one has four written all over it.
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