Jannik Sinner felt ill. He was dizzy. Had not slept well the night before. Wimbledon’s top-seeded man, who recently attained the No. 1 ranking, definitely did not want to quit playing against Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals, but things were not looking good.
Sinner was treated by a trainer and left the court during the third set on Tuesday, then briefly surged before faltering again down the stretch, eventually losing to a more-aggressive-than-usual Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3.
“I was struggling physically,” said Sinner, who had won his past five matches against Medvedev, including a five-setter in the final of the Australian Open in January. “It was not an easy moment. I tried to fight with that what I had today.”
Photo: AFP
It was not enough.
Not against the crafty Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion who is to face Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals at the All England Club for the second consecutive year.
“Was a bit up-and-down match, in a way, from both sides,” Medvedev said.
Photo: AP
Alcaraz, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, took a bit of time to get going in his quarter-final, but once he did, there was no stopping him during a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 12 Tommy Paul at No. 1 Court.
“We try just to find solutions,” said Alcaraz, coming off a title at the French Open last month and seeking his fourth Grand Slam trophy. “For me, obviously, it’s going to be really difficult to play my best tennis every match.”
Over at Centre Court, it was not immediately clear what was wrong with Sinner, who leaned back in his sideline chair, rested his head in a hand and had his heart rate checked before heading to the locker room. During a later changeover, Sinner draped a towel over his head.
While he did regain his usual verve, particularly on his booming forehand, and pushed the match to a fifth set — the 36th this fortnight and the most at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era, which dates to 1968 — Sinner could not get over the line.
Even though he won more points (164-160), accumulated more winners (61-56), made fewer unforced errors (49-45), hit more aces (17-15) and finished with far fewer double-faults (11-4).
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Sinner said.
Medvedev, a 28-year-old from Russia, began playing closer to the baseline than he often does. He found the space to deliver more winners, compiling 13 in the closing set alone, broke for a 3-1 lead in the fifth, and was on his way back to the semi-finals.
Alcaraz raised his level against Paul after a so-so opening set, putting together a 26-12 advantage in winners over the last three.
“When he starts building energy and building momentum ... it feels a little bit different than most of the other guys,” Paul said. “He can play some seriously amazing, amazing tennis.”
In the women’s quarter-finals, Donna Vekic reached the final four at a major for the first time in her 43rd Grand Slam, defeating qualifier Lulu Sun 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, and French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini eliminated No. 19 Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-1 in less than an hour.
Navarro got past four-time major champion Naomi Osaka and reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff earlier in the tournament.
“I know this isn’t the last time I’m going to be in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam,” Navarro said. “I know I’ll be back.”
Vekic, a 28-year-old from Croatia, pondered quitting the sport on multiple occasions — including as recently as right before play began at Roland Garros in May.
“I didn’t have any energy, any motivation to keep practicing, keep pushing, because I felt like the last couple months I’ve given everything for tennis, and I wasn’t getting the results that I kind of expected,” Vekic said.
“Now I’m the semi-finals,” Vekic said. “Not just in tennis, [but] in life, things can turn pretty fast.”
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova lost against the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Germany’s Laura Siegemund 1-6 and 2-6 in women’s doubles round of 16 on Tuesday.
At press time last night, Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Belgium’s Elise Mertens, the top seeds at Wimbledon, were to face the US’ Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to qualify for semi-finals.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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