By Martyn Herman
LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) – Defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner had several members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team watching his second-round clash with Nuno Borges on Wednesday and in golfing parlance he kept it straight down the middle in a relatively risk-free victory.
After the hazards he found against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in a nervy five-set victory in round one, top seed Sinner rarely looked in danger as he won 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4.
World number 48 Borges provided stubborn resistance and was a point away from taking the second set, but Sinner was rock-solid when it mattered as he avoided another long contest.
Sinner, the hot favourite in the absence of injured chief rival Carlos Alcaraz, failed to convert any of the three break points he earned in the opening set but stepped on the throttle in the tiebreak to take the opener.
RYDER CUP PLAYERS WATCHING ON
He strayed off course at the start of the second set and sprayed a forehand long to drop his serve.
Portugal’s Borges stayed ahead throughout the set, but serving at 5-4 he buried a routine backhand into the net on set point and paid the price as Sinner broke back and then reeled off six points in a row to win the second tiebreak of the match.
Sinner dominated thereafter to rack up an Italian record 95th Grand Slam match win, moving ahead of Nicola Pietrangeli.
Francesco Molinari, Italy’s first winner of the British Open in 2018, was in the Royal Box along with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose to watch the man who became Italy’s first Wimbledon champion by beating Alcaraz last year.
Molinari, whose laser-like accuracy helped him triumph on the treacherous Carnoustie course, would have been impressed with the precision Sinner used to navigate his way around the more manicured turf of Centre Court.
SINNER SAYS HE HAS TO IMPROVE AT GOLF
Sinner wrapped up the win in two hours 32 minutes but was not tempted to copy the ‘golf swing’ celebration that Alcaraz used at last year’s U.S. Open.
“I’m not as good as Carlos at golf that’s for sure,” Sinner, who will face unseeded American Jenson Brooksby next, said on court. “I’m pretty sure if we played I would hit everything except the ball, I still have to improve.”
More importantly, the 24-year-old said his level of tennis was on the up after arriving at Wimbledon without having played a competitive match since his shock defeat by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round of the French Open, when he suffered physically in searing temperatures.
“Two wins now and we’ll see what’s coming next,” Sinner said. “A couple of things to improve but I’m very happy.”
Sinner may be less happy about the weather forecast for next week with heatwave conditions possibly returning to London after a mild start to the Championships.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman;Editing by Alison Williams)
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