With the continued absence of injured main rival Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner once again began a major as the strong title favourite.
Renowned for his devastating precision, Sinner made an uncharacteristic 10 unforced errors in the opening eight games, but saved two break points to avoid an early setback.
However, back-to-back double faults and another miss from the Italian gifted Kecmanovic his breakthrough in the ninth game, and the Serb did not flinch as he served out the first set to love.
Sinner – having won all four previous meetings with Kecmanovic, including a straight-set win for the loss of just seven games here two years ago – was below his clinical best but kick-started his fightback with an immediate response in set two.
Reducing his number of errors, and winning all 14 points behind his first serve, Sinner levelled the match – but only after withstanding a break point as Kecmanovic continued to probe.
Eyeing his first victory over a top-10 player at a major, Kecmanovic continued to frustrate Sinner deep into the third set, recovering from 3-0 down in the tie-break before receiving a standing ovation after winning three consecutive points to clinch it from 6-5 down.
Sinner, as he has so often done, reset quickly. Despite blood appearing through his white shoes, he proceeded to level the match for a second time with a fourth straight game on his opponent’s serve.
The shock was still on for Kecmanovic as Sinner left the court before the deciding set, likely aware his opponent had managed to win just one of the past nine five-set matches he had contested.
But as the match moved into its fourth hour, it was Sinner who was able to rally for a final push to the finish line, reeling off four of the final five games.
After an inconsistent start, he ended the match with 31 aces and 72 winners, and will move on to his next match against Portugal’s Nuno Borges on a positive note after committing only 10 of his 52 unforced errors in the final two sets.
