Top-seeded Jannik Sinner received treatment from a trainer and left the court during the third set. He showed a strong resurgence in the fourth set but struggled again in the fifth, eventually losing to Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Tuesday.
“It’s always tricky, because you want to extend the points to make him feel the pressure a bit more — in a positive way — and at the same time, you know he’ll eventually decide, ‘Okay, I can’t keep up anymore, so I’ll go all out,’” said Medvedev, the fifth seed, who will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals for the second consecutive year.
“And that’s exactly what happened.”
Alcaraz, seeded third, initially struggled in his quarterfinal but then gained momentum during a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 12 Tommy Paul at No. 1 Court. The 21-year-old Spaniard, fresh off a French Open title last month, is aiming for his fourth Grand Slam trophy.
During the match at Centre Court, it wasn’t immediately clear what was troubling Sinner, who had his heart rate monitored while sitting on the sidelines before briefly leaving for the locker room. The 22-year-old Italian returned after about 10 minutes but lost the first game upon his return.
After being broken by Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, to go down 2-1 in the third set, Sinner sought medical attention and sat back in his chair. He spoke with the trainer, resting his head in his hand at one point, before they walked off toward the locker room.
Later on, during a break, Sinner covered his head with a towel. Despite recovering some of his usual intensity, especially with his powerful forehand, and pushing the match to a fifth set — the 36th such set this fortnight, the most at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era since 1968 — Sinner couldn’t cross the finish line.
“He wasn’t feeling great at first… and then he started playing better,” Medvedev remarked.
Medvedev began finding more openings to hit winners, tallying 13 in the final set alone. He broke for a 3-1 lead, then held serve for 4-1, securing his spot in the semifinals and setting up a rematch against Alcaraz.
In the women’s quarterfinals, Donna Vekic made it to the semifinals of a major for the first time in her 43rd Slam, beating qualifier Lulu Sun 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini defeated No. 19 Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-1 in less than an hour.
Navarro had earlier defeated four-time major champion Naomi Osaka and reigning U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff in the tournament.
Vekic, a 28-year-old from Croatia, considered quitting tennis several times, even recently before the start of play at Roland Garros in May.
“I didn’t have the energy or motivation to keep practicing, keep pushing, because I felt like I had given everything to tennis in the last few months, and I wasn’t seeing the results I expected,” Vekic said.
“Now I’m in the semifinals,” Vekic added. “Not just in tennis, but in life, things can change quickly.”
Sinner reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year and came into Tuesday’s match on a nine-match winning streak, which included winning the grass-court title in Halle, Germany, last month. He became the No. 1 player in the ATP rankings on June 10 after reaching the semifinals of the French Open.
His departure comes after the No. 1 women’s seed, Iga Swiatek, also exited in the third round. This marks the first time since 2018 that both the top-ranked man and woman have been eliminated from Wimbledon before the semifinals. In that year, Roger Federer was defeated in the quarterfinals, and Simona Halep in the third round.
Medvedev had lost his last five matches against Sinner, including the Australian Open final in January. On that occasion, Medvedev won the first two sets, but Sinner fought back to claim victory in five sets, securing his first Grand Slam title.
This defeat brought Medvedev’s record in major finals to 1-5. Now, he is one win away from reaching his seventh major final appearance.
