Sinner passes his debut and will face Berrettini at Wimbledon | ATP Tour

Wimbledon

Sinner passes his debut and will face Berrettini at Wimbledon

World No. 1 beat Hanfmann

July 01, 2024

The temporary ups and downs of a match don’t matter, these days everything is flowing for Jannik Sinner. This was his debut at Wimbledon: the grass suits him perfectly and, when he accelerates, the Italian goes for it.

The 22-year-old, the first player from his country to reach No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is seeded for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament and had to work hard, although he made it clear that his aspirations on the London grass are serious: to inaugurate the centenary of the number 1 court, the Italian beat the German Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4, 3-6 and 6-2 in two hours and 58 minutes of play.

Now, a promising clash of compatriots will come in the second round against 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini.

When it seemed that Sinner would have no problems to get through his debut, apart from the third set, the German put a tough challenge to the top seed, who had to keep his cool to seal his victory, who later said that he was delighted to debut in a Grand Slam as world No. 1 at the All England Club.

“When you go a break down it’s difficult to recover immediately, but how I reacted in the fourth set was very positive and finishing the match in a very positive way I hope can help me start the next round,” said the Italian.

“It’s a huge privilege and honour to be in the position I’m in and there’s no better place than here to play my first Grand Slam as world number one. It’s an incredible feeling, but every match starts at zero, zero and every opponent wants to win, just like me.”

The roof on Court No. 1 was closed after the third set, allowing the Italian to reset and finish the job. The top seed hit 16 aces and 47 winners in the match. Sinner will now prepare for an even tougher test against Berrettini, a former world No. 6 whose serve and big forehand have wreaked havoc on grass for years.

The Italian stars have been the faces of men’s tennis in their home country since breaking into the ATP Tour, but have only met once. Sinner won their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting last year in Toronto in straight sets.

Looking ahead to his tough second-round encounter, Sinner said: “It’s definitely tough. He played the final here and he knows very well how to play on this surface, so it’s a big challenge for me.”