World No.1 Jannik Sinner bested Portugal’s Nuno Borges by 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4 at Centre Court in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday. The Italian had to dig deep in the first two sets after he was forced to battle for five sets in the opening round.

However, Sinner was able to keep his calm in crunch moments even though he didn’t bring his best to the court. In the third set, both players didn’t hold their serves in the first three games but Sinner was able to lift his game  through the middle phase.

Sinner admitted the first set was a tough battle for him against the Portuguese.

“The first set was very tough, but in the first set we were [both] serving very well so there were not a lot of long exchanges,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “Overall, in these kinds of matches where you don’t have a lot of control, I’m very happy to win. Especially on this surface, I now have two wins [this week].

“Of course we will see what’s coming, but I’m very happy about the result. A couple of things we need to improve, but I’m very happy.”

The Italian admitted the lack of game time in the first round didn’t help him against Kecmanovic.

“Especially in the first round, I felt the lack of matches,” Sinner, who for the first time did not play an ATP Tour event on grass in the leadup to Wimbledon. “Also today there were a couple of moments. I need to get back to this rhythm. If we look at the scoreboard, it was very close, so these matches, and especially the individual sets, help me a lot.

“Of course, we aim to improve and aim to get a little bit better. Tomorrow is a day off. Yesterday I didn’t do a lot because the first match was five sets and very long, so I’m happy about today.”

Sinner will play USA’s Jenson Brooksby in the third round on Friday.