An opening defeat for Alcaraz against Fabio Fognini would, naturally, have been Sinner’s preferred outcome, but a four-and-a-half hour, five-set epic in blistering heat was a decent consolation prize.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner got his Wimbledon campaign off to an ideal start by beating Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 in an all-Italian matchup