World number one Jannik Sinner survived an all-Italian Centre Court dogfight against Matteo Berrettini to book his place in the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Sinner edged the opening two sets on tiebreaks under the closed roof but was rocked on his heels by a Berrettini fightback before prevailing 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 2-6 7-6(4).
Berrettini, who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2021 but was plagued by injuries last year, looked capable of dragging the match into a decider with some heavy-metal tennis.
Top seed Sinner was wobbling when he went a break down early in the fourth set but managed to wrestle back control.
Berrettini saved a match point when serving at 5-6 in the fourth set and belted away a forehand to set up the third tiebreak of an absorbing tussle.
The law of averages suggested Berrettini would come out on top this time but once again Sinner came up with the goods under pressure to take his record against fellow Italians to 14-0.
The 22-year-old Sinner’s quest to add the Wimbledon title to this year’s Australian Open will continue against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic on Friday.
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