Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev edged out ailing world number one Jannik Sinner in a gripping five-set battle to secure his spot in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second consecutive year on Tuesday.
The match was a rollercoaster of momentum shifts, occasional fireworks, and lulls, making it more absorbing than thrilling. Medvedev triumphed with scores of 6(7)-7(9), 6-4, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 under the Centre Court roof.
This victory snapped Medvedev's five-match losing streak against Sinner and avenged his tough loss to the Italian in this year's Australian Open final, where he squandered a two-set lead.
Now, Medvedev, who is eyeing to add to his 2021 U.S. Open title, will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in his ninth Grand Slam semifinal, hoping to reverse last year's heavy defeat to the Spaniard.
On the court, Medvedev shared, \"I knew if I wanted to beat Jannik it needs to be a tough match. He's not any more a guy you can beat easy. It's actually very tough. One moment I could feel that he doesn't move that well so it's always tricky because you want to play more points to make him suffer a bit more. In a good way. But you know at one point he was like 'OK I can't run anymore and I'll go full power' and that's what he did.\"
Top seed Sinner, who fell at the semifinals stage last year to Novak Djokovic, won the opening set in a tight tiebreak after saving a set point. However, mistakes began to creep into his game, and after losing the second set due to a sloppy service game, he required medical attention after dropping serve at 1-1 in the third and disappeared off court, apparently feeling ill.
Sinner commented, \"Already this morning I didn't feel great. Had some problems. Then with the fatigue, it was tough. But take nothing away from Daniil. I think he played very smart. He played good tennis. That's it. It was not an easy moment. I tried to fight with that what I had today.\"
Despite looking groggy on his return to Centre Court, Sinner snapped back to life and recovered from 5-3 down in the third set with some aggressive hitting as Medvedev's game slowed down. However, he couldn't convert two set points in the 12th game and was dragged into a tiebreak that Medvedev sealed with an ace.
Sinner dominated the fourth set, dropping only 12 points, and seemed the favorite heading into the decider. For the 36th time at this year's Wimbledon, a men's singles match went the distance – a new record for a Grand Slam tournament in the professional era.
Medvedev refocused and got an early break of serve, which ultimately proved decisive as he calmly ticked off the games for victory in exactly four hours.
Having snapped his losing run against Sinner, Medvedev is now looking ahead to trying to overturn his straight sets defeat by Alcaraz at Wimbledon last year. Asked what he needs to do, he told reporters: \"Just play better. I have to serve better. That's still the most important thing on grass. You serve aces, you serve on the line, you're less in trouble, and you feel better.\"
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