By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON (Reuters) -World number one Jannik Sinner stayed cool to reach the second round of Wimbledon while several of his fellow seeds including Italian compatriot Lorenzo Musetti and American hope Jessica Pegula crashed and burned on a sizzling Tuesday.
Novak Djokovic will continue his bid for a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title and standalone 25th Grand Slam title when the 38-year-old Serb will play Frenchman Alexandre Muller later when conditions improve after a second day of stifling heat.
A red-hot Sinner effortlessly eased through beating fellow Italian and close friend Luca Nardi 6-4 6-3 6-0 in a victorious return to the Grand Slam stage after his epic French Open final defeat by Carlos Alcaraz last month.
“First round matches are never easy, so I’m very happy about today. Obviously, for Italian tennis, a bit unfortunate,” Sinner told reporters.
“I know him quite well as a person. I tried to put away the friendship for a couple of hours. So it’s all good.”
Sinner’s other friend Musetti, last year’s semi-finalist, was dumped out by Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, who prevailed 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-1 on a muggy Court Two.
EXIT DOOR
Wimbledon dark horse Alexander Bublik, seeded 28th, was also unable to avoid the exit door, as the Kazakh showman was dragged into battle by Spaniard Jaume Munar and beaten 6-4 3-6 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2 to continue the exodus of seeded men’s players.
Taylor Fritz let out a massive roar but it might as well have been a sigh of relief after the fifth-seeded American moved past big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-7(6) 6-7(8) 6-4 7-6(6) 6-4 in a match carried forward from Monday.
His American compatriot Tommy Paul took out Briton Johannus Monday with little fuss, the 13th seed cruising 6-4 6-4 6-2, but it was the end of the road for 30th seed Alex Michelsen who fell 6-2 3-6 6-3 3-6 7-6(6) to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
On the women’s side, defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was tested by promising 20-year-old Filipina Alexandra Eala, but she found best form to win 3-6 6-2 6-1 on her return to Centre Court after last year’s surprise triumph.
“I mean, what the hell (kind of tennis) she played in the first set?,” said Krejcikova, praising her opponent.
“She was smashing the ball and cleaning the lines, so wow, wow. She’s going to be really good in a couple of years.”
While Eala missed her chance to make history, Zeynep Sonmez became the first Turkish woman to reach the second round at the grasscourt Grand Slam when she battled past Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 7-6(5) 6-3.
Third seed Pegula was unable to put up a fight as she fell 6-2 6-3 in 58 minutes to Elisabetta Cocciaretto before Olympic champion and fifth seed Qinwen Zheng was beaten 7-5 4-6 6-1 by Czech Katerina Siniakova.
Five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek faced a tight opening set against Polina Kudermetova but the eighth seed won 7-5 6-1 while Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva advanced after a 6-3 6-3 victory over Mayar Sherif.
Victoria Mboko found out a few hours before she faced Magdalena Frech that she had entered the main draw as a lucky loser due to Anastasia Potapova’s pullout and the Canadian teenager rode her luck to stun the 25th seed 6-3 6-2.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in LondonEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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