After some worries at Wimbledon, Jannik Sinner did what No. 1s do: Play better

What did Jannik Sinner have to fear more on Monday: His opponent, Yannick Hanfmann; or his own, recently injured hip? That’s what one of the BBC commentators calling their first-round match at Wimbledon wanted to know—“with all due respect to Hanfmann,” of course.

The question may have sounded rude, but it wasn’t unreasonable. The German is a tall, strong player who would hit 12 aces and 44 winners, and take a set from Sinner. But he’s also 32, ranked 86th, and was playing his final Wimbledon. Sinner’s bad hip, which forced him out of Madrid and Rome, did seem like the more treacherous and unpredictable foe today.

It turned out that Sinner, who was playing his first major as a world No. 1, would get a little bit of pushback from his hip, and a little bit more from Hanfmann. Early in the second set, while trying to cut back to his forehand side, the Italian slipped and went down with his right leg splayed out. He grabbed his hip, and briefly walked with a limp. But that might have just been a habitual or fearful reaction, because he didn’t show any, or many, signs of being hampered by it after that. Hanfmann raised his game in the second set, but Sinner raised it right back and stole away with it at the end, 6-4.

“Physically I feel good,” Sinner said. “First round is always a bit more slippery.”

He said the grass was wet in the early going, but that “when we closed the roof, the court was much dryer and it was a bit easier to move.”

Sinner had just lost the third set when the roof was closed, but he wasted no time taking advantage of the stoppage in play and the newly dry grass. With Hanfmann serving at 1-2 in the fourth, Sinner got the game to deuce with a decisive one-two punch—a down-the-line forehand return followed by ripped crosscourt backhand—that Hanfmann had no chance of defending. Sinner then broke with another good return, and another winning crosscourt backhand. The whole passage of play took just a few seconds, but when it was over, the match was out of Hanfmann’s hands and back in Sinner’s.

“You’re watching a No. 1 guy stepping up when he needs to,” John McEnroe said in the BBC booth.

“He was playing great,” Sinner said. “I tried to raise my level [at the] end of the match, which I’m very happy [I did].”

Afterward, Sinner was asked whether starting this tournament at No. 1 made any difference in his mindset. As usual, Sinner focused on the positive, and didn’t make anything more out of it than necessary.

“It’s a huge privilege and honor to be in this position,” Sinner said. “There’s no better place to play my first Slam as world No. 1. It’s an amazing feeling.”

When Sinner’s next opponent, compatriot and 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, was mentioned, the crowd broke into a long, mock-fearful “Oooooooohhhhhhh.” Sinner, naturally, was unfazed, and responded with the comfortable smile that he brings to just about everything he encounters.

“It feels great to be back here,” he said, still smiling. “Let’s see what’s coming in the next round.”