Italian Jannik Sinner won in four sets Tuesday to earn the distinction as the youngest man to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon since 2007. For today, at least.
The eighth-seeded Sinner, 21, defeated Russian Roman Safiullin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at the All England Club to set himself up in the semis in just his third Wimbledon appearance.
However, everyone is expecting Carlos Alcaraz to also reach the semifinals when he plays Wednesday. Alcaraz is only 20.
“It’s gonna change because of Carlos, but I’m still young and happy,” Sinner said on court after his match. “Give me this feeling at least for one day.”
The top-seeded Alcaraz plays No. 6 Holger Rune on Wednesday in the quarters.
Up next for Sinner is No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who rallied to defeat seventh-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in the other men’s quarter battle.
Funny enough, it was a 20-year-old Djokovic who reached the semis at Wimbledon back in 2007. And it was Djokovic who ousted Sinner from the quarterfinals at last year’s Wimbledon.
Sinner becomes just the third Italian player (Nicola Pietrangeli, Matteo Berrettini) to reach the semis at Wimbledon.
“It means a lot to me,” said Sinner. “We’ve put a lot of work in, many, many hours — also off court — a lot of sacrifices for this moment.”
Sinner laced 15 aces and won 90 percent of his first serves. He finished with 36 winners against 20 unforced errors.
Djokovic made it through to his 46th semifinal at a grand slam, tying the record held by Roger Federer. The Serb, No. 2 in the world behind Alcaraz, is gunning for his fifth straight Wimbledon title.
“I think any tennis player wants to be in a position where everyone wants to win against you,” Djokovic said afterward. “I think it is a privilege, as Billie Jean (King) said. Pressure is part of what we do, it’s part of our sport. It’s never going to go away. …
“I know that they want to get a scalp, they want to win. But it ain’t happening, still,” he added with a laugh. “Very humble!”
Djokovic recovered from the first-set loss as he generally does — by blitzing his opponent from that point on. Djokovic fired three aces in the second set to go with 10 winners against just two unforced errors. He had six unforced errors in the first-set loss.
“Andrey is a guy a respect a lot,” Djokovic said. “Obviously he brings a lot of intensity on the court, you can see by the way he’s grunting after his shots. Especially on the forehand, it’s kind of scary — both the ball that is coming from that corner and the sound as well.”
–Field Level Media