LONDON: World number one Jannik Sinner stayed cool to reach the second round of Wimbledon while several of his fellow seeds including Italian compatriot Lorenzo Musetti and American hope Jessica Pegula crashed and burned on a sizzling Tuesday.
A red-hot Sinner effortlessly eased through beating fellow Italian and close friend Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 in a victorious return to the Grand Slam stage after his epic French Open final defeat by Carlos Alcaraz last month.
“First round matches are never easy, so I’m very happy about today. Obviously, for Italian tennis, a bit unfortunate,” Sinner told reporters.
“I know him quite well as a person. I tried to put away the friendship for a couple of hours. So it’s all good.”
Sinner’s other friend Musetti, last year’s semi-finalist, was dumped out by Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, who prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 on a muggy Court Two.
Wimbledon dark horse Alexander Bublik, seeded 28th, was also unable to avoid the exit door, as the Kazakh showman was dragged into battle by Spaniard Jaume Munar and beaten 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(7/5), 6-2 to continue the exodus of seeded men’s players.
Taylor Fritz let out a massive roar but it might as well have been a sigh of relief after the fifth-seeded American moved past big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-7(6/8), 6-7(8/10), 6-4, 7-6(8/6), 6-4 in a match carried forward from Monday.
His American compatriot Tommy Paul took out Briton Johannus Monday with little fuss, the 13th seed cruising 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, but it was the end of the road for 30th seed Alex Michelsen who fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8/6) to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
On the women’s side, defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was tested by promising 20-year-old Filipina Alexandra Eala, but she found best form to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on her return to Centre Court after last year’s surprise triumph.
“I mean, what the hell (kind of tennis) she played in the first set?,” said Krejcikova, praising her opponent.
“She was smashing the ball and cleaning the lines, so wow, wow. She’s going to be really good in a couple of years.”
While Eala missed her chance to make history, Zeynep Sonmez became the first Turkish woman to reach the second round at the grasscourt Grand Slam when she battled past Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 7-6(5), 6-3.
Third seed Pegula was unable to put up a fight as she fell 6-2, 6-3 in 58 minutes to Elisabetta Cocciaretto before Olympic champion and fifth seed Qinwen Zheng was beaten 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 by Czech Katerina Siniakova.
“I don’t consider that it’s such a challenge for me to play on grass,” Zheng said. “Maybe it’s I just should put my level a bit more high today because I gave her a lot on my service games, especially when I was leading 5-3 in the first set.
“I had a lot of chances but just didn’t take them. I’m not going to let this get into my head. It’s just another match I lost here on grass, okay. I’m just going to see what’s coming in the future, and I will always keep fighting.”
Five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek faced a tight opening set against Polina Kudermetova but the eighth seed won 7-5, 6-1 while Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva advanced after a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Mayar Sherif.
Victoria Mboko found out a few hours before she faced Magdalena Frech that she had entered the main draw as a lucky loser due to Anastasia Potapova’s pullout and the Canadian teenager rode her luck to stun the 25th seed 6-3, 6-2.
On Monday, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, twice a Grand Slam runner-up was left despondent after retiring with a back injury having fallen two sets behind against French qualifier Valentin Royer.
British qualifier Oliver Tarvet marked his Grand Slam main draw debut with a superb 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi of Switzerland. Tarvet is one of 23 British players in the singles draw, the most since 1984.
The home charge was led by British number one Emma Raducanu who comfortably passed a tricky test against Mingge Xu, one of three British teenager wild cards to play on Monday.
When Katie Boulter later knocked out Spanish ninth seed Paula Badosa 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Centre Court, seven British players had enjoyed victories, the most in a single day for the home nation in the professional era.
Home hope Jacob Fearnley could not follow suit though as he was outshone 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(7/5) by Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, who showed why he is creating such a stir with carnival tennis on a steamy Court One.
Several other women’s contenders sparkled in the sunshine, none more than 13th seeded American Amanda Anisimova who served up a dreaded ‘double-bagel’ 6-0 6-0 defeat to Yulia Putintseva.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat Anna Boindar in straight sets while 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova continued her return to form by knocking out American 30th seed McCartney Kessler, setting up a second-round clash with Raducanu.
Australian Open champion Madison Keys, seeded sixth, battled for two hours and 41 minutes to beat Romania’s Elena Ruse and played down the impact of the heat.
Four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka overcame some first-round jitters to beat Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, prevailing 6-4 ,7-6(7/4).
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2025
