Jannik Sinner bloodied after ‘horrible’ Wimbledon injury as BBC commentators left sickened | Tennis | Sport

Jannik Sinner was left with a bloodied foot during his opening match of this year’s Wimbledon. The Italian was competing against Miomir Kecmanovic on opening day at the Championships and edged a tight 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3 win.

The reigning Wimbledon champion dropped the opening set to Kecmanovic, having lost his serve in the ninth game of the opener. Sinner rallied and bounced back with a comfortable-enough second-set win, but it was in the third where things continued to unravel for the tennis star.

With the set levelled at two games each, Sinner went to return a ball but lost his footing and collapsed to the floor. It looked a painful fall, as his knee folded in on itself and for a moment it appeared as if Sinner wasn’t going to get back up.

He eventually returned to his feet and did continue, however, Sinner didn’t look like his fluid self and continued to wince throughout the match. The television cameras then spotted what looked to be a bleed underneath his trainer, with blood seeping through the mesh lining.

Reacting to the horror sight, BBC commentator Andrew Castle said: “It looks like his right foot is bleeding, although he’s not making any sort of fuss. Showing no signs of upset. Whatever’s coming out of his right foot is red and one can only assume therefore that it’s blood, unless he’s got some sort of ointment or cream. What is that? It looks horrible.”

Sinner, who was knocked out of the French Open in the second round, didn’t look comfortable on the court and was hobbling around. Commenting on the suspected bleeding food, Tim Henman added: “I don’t think it’s strawberries.”

Before Castle concluded: “It’s getting worse as well. It doesn’t look like it’s affecting his movement, he’s been charging around the court, but it is very bizarre to have something like that coming through the shoe.”

Sinner’s injury worry was in keeping with the opening day at Wimbledon, given several high-profile names pulled out with problems. Unfortunately for UK-based tennis fans, the two biggest just happened to be Brits, with Emma Raducanu having withdrawn on the eve of the tournament, while Jack Draper pulled out earlier on Monday.

Raducanu had been coy about her fitness status during the build-up to Wimbledon, and had looked set to feature in Monday’s round one matches. She ultimately believed it wasn’t worth the risk, saying: “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but sadly I’ve had to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon.

“I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line tomorrow but after a final scan tonight, the ­niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fracture and I’ve been medically advised to stop pushing through.”

Meanwhile, Draper’s 2026 so far has been blighted with fitness problems, with the former US Open semi-finalist remarking: “I’m devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury. There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months, but this one is definitely the absolute worst.”