Sinner battles past Kecmanovic in five sets to reach the next round at Wimbledon

A blood-like red spot on Sinner's shoe caused a stir. The South Tyrolean played down the incident after the match: "It looks worse than it is" and added when asked about his health: "No, no, I'm fine." An official explanation from the team about the origin of the spot was not initially available.

Sinner himself immediately looked ahead and spoke about the course of the match: "I am very happy that I turned it around. The third set was hard to swallow." In his next match, he will face Nuno Borges of Portugal. With a win, Sinner would be facing a duel against the third-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who won his opening match clearly in three sets.

Women's: Chwalinska slips up on match point

The women's competition also made headlines on Monday in London. Polish Paris finalist Maja Chwalinska, now ranked 21st in the WTA rankings, was already leading Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6:2, 5:2 and was at net on match point when she slipped. In the end, she lost 6:2, 5:7, 2:6. In the men's draw, seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud (No. 11) was eliminated in the first round, as were Russia's Andrey Rublev (No. 12) and Italy's Luciano Darderi (No. 14). Rublev lost to Roman Safiullin in a marathon match that lasted almost four hours and ended 6:7 in the fifth set.

On the British side, there were two prominent withdrawals: Jack Draper, former world number four and former Vienna tournament winner, pulled out of his match against Taylor Fritz due to a recurring arm injury. Earlier, Emma Raducanu, the former US Open champion, had canceled her start. Two British hopes are thus missing early in the tournament.

Draw: Borges awaits

Numerous prominent guests watched the action from the stands, including David Beckham, who attentively observed Sinner's match. In the women's draw, the top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka advanced convincingly. Sinner himself is now looking ahead to the second round against Borges and to the upcoming rounds at the All England Club, where he won the title last year.

Background: Sinner's path to London

Looking at the draw, it remains the case that the Italian is still one of the favorites in his half of the bracket. His next opponent, Nuno Borges, is unseeded and is likely to go into the match as the underdog. Sinner's physical condition remains a topic, however, after he visibly struggled in the third set and the mysterious spot on his shoe sparked discussion.

The tournament in London, which is once again being played on natural grass this year, is Sinner's first test on grass this season. The Italian had most recently disappointed in Paris, where he was eliminated in the second round after leading 2:0 in sets and 5:1 in the third. Against Kecmanovic, he now showed a clear improvement in the decisive phases.