Sinner begins Wimbledon defense, Sabalenka seeks first title

LONDON: Wimbledon begins on Monday, with defending champion Jannik Sinner ‌chasing a fifth Grand Slam title and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka chasing her first major of the year.
In the absence of rival and two-time Wimbledon winner ​Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner is the clear favorite this year, but the Italian may have to contend with the hot weather and his own lack of preparation as he seeks to defend his title. After his second-round defeat at the French Open from a near-winning position when he cramped up in sizzling conditions, the 24-year-old skipped the warm-up tournaments ahead of the grasscourt slam.
He said this could work to his benefit, however, ahead of his opening clash with Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic on Monday.
“If you play a tournament before here, maybe it’s not ‌going the way ‌you would like to, you come here with some ​doubts,” ‌he ⁠told reporters ​on ⁠Saturday.
“If you don’t play any tournament, you don’t have these doubts, you just go and play.”
Sabalenka has been at the top of the WTA rankings since late 2024, but the Belarusian has only won one Grand Slam title in the past 18 months, despite reaching four finals. She also suffered a collapse against Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarter-finals last month, losing the last 10 games in a row. She said after ⁠that she wanted to “quit tennis” but has since worked with a ‌psychologist and said she was not affected as much by ‌losing to Jessica Pegula in this month’s Berlin Open ​semifinals.
“I felt really good throughout the tournament ‌there. I struggled a little bit here and there, (but) overall I feel like things are ‌clicking back together,” she told reporters ahead of her opening match against Teodora Kostovic.
The four-times major champion has never won Wimbledon, but she has reached the semifinals in her last three appearances.
DJOKOVIC CONTINUES BID FOR HISTORY
Novak Djokovic has spent the last 2-1/2 years trying to capture a 25th major crown that ‌would see him overtake Margaret Court. Wimbledon could be his best bet for achieving that.
Since he won his seventh Wimbledon title in ⁠2022, the Serb ⁠has reached two finals and a semifinal at the All England Club. The 39-year-old, who last played in a five-set loss to Brazilian Joao Fonseca at the French Open, told reporters he was better prepared for Wimbledon than he was at Roland Garros. “Playing on grass, comparing to clay, you don’t need to exert as much physical effort. So that’s better for me,” he added.
“I always loved playing on grass. I have a very good score here, history, in Wimbledon. That gives me a higher dose of confidence coming into the tournament.”
CENTRE COURT (Play begins at 1230 GMT)
1-Jannik Sinner (Italy) v Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Teodora Kostovic (Serbia)
Wu Yibing (China) v 7-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
COURT NUMBER ONE (Play begins at 1200 GMT)
Antonia ​Ruzic (Croatia) v 30-Emma Raducanu (Britain)
Marin Cilic (Croatia) v 8-Daniil ​Medvedev (Russia)
Magda Linette (Poland) v 5-Mirra Andreeva (Russia)
COURT NUMBER TWO (Play begins at 1000 GMT)
4-Jessica Pegula (US) v Darja Vidmanova (Czech Republic)
Michael Zheng (US) v 26-Cameron Norrie (Britain)
3-Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) v Aleksandr Shevchenko (Kazakhstan)
Tamara Korpatsch (Germany) v 7-Coco Gauff (US)