All England Club: Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has backed defending champion Jannik Sinner to overcome his early exit from the French Open and win his second consecutive title in a row, saying his game is ideally suited to grass, even though he was pushed to five sets in his tournament opener.
Sinner survived a major scare in the first round, battling past Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3 after trailing by two sets to one. The gritty comeback also ended his run of five consecutive defeats in five-set matches, while he overcame a bloodied foot during the contest to book a second-round clash against Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
“My first pick would be Sinner, of course, because he has won here before. With his game style on grass, he really seems like a top contender,” Bouchard told Jio Hotstar. “But he had a crazy five-set match in the first round of this edition, kind of unexpected. So I’m not sure where his level is at.”
