Sinner subdues feisty Hanfmann as Alcaraz beats Lajal for positive start

Jannik Sinner wobbled midway through his Wimbledon first-round clash with unseeded German Yannick Hanfmann but the world number one recovered to seal a 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 win on Monday and book a meeting with fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini.
The Australian Open champion used his powerful serve and forehand to good effect against Hanfmann as he breezed through the first set on the back of a solitary break and got his nose in front early in the next.
Hanfmann hung on and heaped pressure on Sinner’s serve but was unable to find a way through and the 22-year-old top seed moved two sets ahead.
The world number 110 flipped the script to go 4-0 up in the third set as Sinner appeared to be belatedly hampered by a nasty fall, and the German cupped his ear amid huge cheers after forcing a fourth set with a neat volley.
There was to be no comeback, however, as Sinner rediscovered his rhythm under the lights on Court One to break for a 3-1 lead and held firm from to close out the match.
Sinner, who lifted his first title on the sport’s slickest surface at Halle barely two weeks ago, could face another tricky test against Berrettini after the 2021 runner-up beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(3) 6-2 3-6 6-1.
Berrettini fired 11 aces.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated 269th-ranked qualifier Mark Lajal at the start of his Wimbledon title defence.
Alcaraz, still only 21, is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title and hopes to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.
Opening the Centre Court programme, the Spanish star recovered from a break down in each of the first two sets to see off the dreadlocked Lajal 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 6-2.
“He played a really good match, he obviously surprised me a little bit because I didn’t have the chance to see him play a lot,” said Alcaraz.
This time last year, Lajal was losing a first-round match at a second-tier Challenger event in the United States and earning a paltry $780 - on Monday he banked $75,000.

Medvedev beats Kovacevic
Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev on Monday reached the second round and admitted he was happy not to be playing on the All England Club’s famed Centre Court.
Medvedev, a semi-finalist last year, hit 16 aces in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.
“I’ve still never lost on Court One so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court,” said Medvedev.
“Last year I said it was unfortunate I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost.”