With big names falling all over SW19 – mainly British and mainly without hitting a ball – Jannik Sinner hauled himself off the floor, and indeed out of a hole, to avoid a seismic shock on Centre Court.
The world No 1 was taken all the way by world No 51 Miomir Kecmanovic after tumbling during the third set and sustaining a hip complaint. At that stage, and with blood seeping out of his shoe, it appeared bleak for the Italian.
Indeed, when he succumbed in that set and trailed the inspired Serb 2-1, Sinner appeared almost destined to become the first defending male champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon in 23 years.
Sinner was highly erratic, making some wild swings and more than 50 unenforced errors, and when one considered his poor record in five-setters – just six wins from 18 attempts before Monday – and the manner in which he collapsed in the French Open final earlier in the month, the vultures were circling the famous arena.
But the four-time grand slam champion showed impressive resilience to come through the last two sets and grab the victory 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3 and in doing so won the crowd around.
Apart from a small band of Azzurri, he was greeted with a muted reaction. Well, he is not Carlos Alcaraz, the absent darling of Wimbledon, and there was also last year’s drugs controversy and Sinner being one of the architects in the recent media boycott for the cash-hungry players to tie a bow around the audience’s larynx.
Yet after rallying for Kecmanovic, they turned their affection to Sinner as he struck a blow for the superstars. The overwhelming favourite – who came into the event at 4-7, the lowest-priced candidate to lift the trophy since Roger Federer in 2007 – will play Portugal’s Nuno Borges on Wednesday and will surely have self-belief restored after this clinical conclusion