World No 1 Jannik Sinner avoided falling to a second consecutive early Grand Slam exit after twice fighting back from a set down before eventually beating Miomir Kecmanovic on the opening day of Wimbledon.
The defending champion, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final, was taken all the way by his unseeded Serbian opponent before eventually sealing his place in the next round after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 win on Centre Court.
Sinner had suffered a shock second-round defeat at the French Open in May when he fell to a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo – despite being two sets and 5-1 ahead in the third – after wilting in scorching Paris temperatures.
And the four-time Grand Slam winner soon found himself one set down against Kecmanovic in the English capital only to immediately his opponent break at the start of the third as Sinner raced into a 3-0 lead before going on to level the scores.
But his opponent – who has never been beyond Round 4 at a major – would show his mettle by taking the fifth set via a tiebreak only for Sinner to fire back again in the fourth to set up a decider.
The 24-year-old by then had taken complete control of the match and would go on to book a second-round meeting with Portugal's Nuno Borges, despite Sinner's trainer being soaked with blood with what he revealed was a problem with one of toenails.
“Coming back here as defending champion means a lot to me so I'm very happy to have won my first match,” said Sinner after his first competitive grass-court match of the season.
“Of course I will try to aim for a couple of improvements for my next match, but today I can feel very happy. I felt a lot of mistakes on my forehand side in the first set, which is normal so I tried to accept that. I thought I raised my level when I really needed to.”
In the women's draw, fourth seed Jessica Pegula eased past Darja Vidmanova as the American sealed her second-round spot following a 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Pegula, who has gone beyond Round 3 just once in six appearances on the All England Club grass and lost in the first round last year, defeated her Czech opponent in just one hour and 13 minutes on Court Two.
The 32-year-old will be joined in the next round by countrywoman Iva Jovic with the 16th seed beating Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 7-6, 6-0, earning the teenager her first Wimbledon main-draw victory.
The last American woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish was Serena Williams, who won her seventh Wimbledon singles title in 2016 and will be playing her first singles event in four years when the 44-year faces Australia's Maya Joint on Tuesday evening.
Reigning Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open champion Belinda Bencic is also safely through following a straight-sets win over home hope Mika Stojsavljevic.
The Swiss 11th seed, who reached the semi-finals last year when she lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek, brushed aside her 17-year-old opponent – who was playing in only her second Grand Slam – 6-2, 6-1.
The first upset at this year's London major occurred when 20th seed and French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 by Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
Chwalinska had produced a sensational run at Roland Garros showpiece which saw the qualifier beaten in straight sets by Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
But there was to be new repeat for the Pole here as Chwalinska – playing her first grass-court match of the season – who was one point away from victory at 6-2, 5-2, only to slip allowing Sawangkaew to volley home a winner.
Chwalinska did not seem to be affected at first but movement off her right leg quickly deteriorated and by the end, the 24-year-old was struggling to serve or return.
It meant Sawangkaew, 23, would go on to become the first Thai player to win a match at Wimbledon since Luksika Kumkhum reached the second round in 2018.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is also through after the Japanese 14th seed beat Elsa Jacquemot of France 6-1, 7-5.
