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By Martyn HermanLondon — Defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner had several members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team watching his second-round clash with Nuno Borges on Wednesday, and in golfing parlance, he kept it straight down the middle in a relatively risk-free victory.After the hazards he found against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in a nervy five-set victory in round one, top seed Sinner rarely looked in danger as he won 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4.World No 48 Borges provided stubborn resistance and was a point away from taking the second set, but Sinner was rock-solid when it mattered as he avoided another long contest.Sinner, the hot favourite in the absence of injured chief rival Carlos Alcaraz, failed to convert any of the three break points he earned in the opening set but stepped on the throttle in the tiebreak to take the opener.He strayed off course at the start of the second set and sprayed a forehand long to drop his serve.Portugal’s Borges stayed ahead throughout the set, but serving at 5-4, he buried a routine backhand into the net on set point and paid the price as Sinner broke back and then reeled off six points consecutively to win the second tiebreak of the match.Sinner dominated thereafter to rack up an Italian record 95th Grand Slam match win, moving ahead of Nicola Pietrangeli. Aryna Sabalenka. Picture: (Claudia Greco) Aryna Sabalenka’s love-hate relationship with Wimbledon’s slick turf was once again on display before her survival instincts kicked in as the Belarusian subdued American McCartney Kessler 6-1 7-6(9) in the second round.The world No 1 definitely loved the way the first set went, but by the time Kessler had stormed to a 5-2 lead in the second, Sabalenka’s thigh started to feel the full force of her frustration as she kept slapping it in anger after every missed opportunity.Kessler, the only player to have reached the second round this year without dropping a game, appeared to be on the cusp of dragging Sabalenka into a third set as she had two set points at 5-3 and another two in the tiebreak.Read: Defending champion Swiatek fights back for first-round victory at WimbledonBut each time, Sabalenka’s greater weight of shot and experience came to the Belarusian’s rescue, and she made sure her bid to win a first Grand Slam title away from hard courts stayed on track as she finally converted her third match point to end a compelling duel after 1h 39min.“She really tested me today, and I am super happy to pass the test,” the relieved top seed, who will next face Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, said.“She played incredibly and played super aggressively, and it was really tough to handle the second set, and I am glad to have powered through.”
