By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON (Reuters) – Jannik Sinner wobbled midway through his Wimbledon first-round clash with unseeded German Yannick Hanfmann but the world number one recovered to seal a 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 win on Monday and book a meeting with fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini.
The Australian Open champion used his powerful serve and forehand to good effect against Hanfmann as he breezed through the first set on the back of a solitary break and got his nose in front early in the next.
Hanfmann hung on and heaped pressure on Sinner’s serve but was unable to find a way through and the 22-year-old top seed moved two sets ahead.
The world number 110 flipped the script to go 4-0 up in the third set as Sinner appeared to be belatedly hampered by a nasty fall, and the German cupped his ear amid huge cheers after forcing a fourth set with a neat volley.
There was to be no comeback, however, as Sinner rediscovered his rhythm under the lights on Court One to break for a 3-1 lead and held firm from to close out the match.
Sinner, who lifted his first title on the sport’s slickest surface at Halle two weeks ago, could face another tricky test against Berrettini after the 2021 runner-up beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(3) 6-2 3-6 6-1.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, editing by Ed Osmond)
