“I think what we showed today is a great level of tennis, a great attitude from both of us,” said Sinner. “There are so many other players who play incredible tennis. We are certainly the two youngest at the moment. Let’s see. I don’t know what will happen in the future. I think it’s just great for tennis, also to have some new names, new players.”
This was a most unusual Wimbledon, with number 1 Daniil Medvedev and his Russian compatriots banned from playing because of the war in Ukraine; new No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany is out after major ankle surgery; and three other leading turf players – Matteo Berrettini of Italy, Marin Cilic of Croatia and Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain – withdrew after testing positive for the coronavirus.
There were plenty of opportunities in the draw and of the 16 players in the men’s fourth round, only two – Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal – had even reached the semi-finals of a singles Grand Slam tournament. Sinner will now face Djokovic, the three-time defending champion at Wimbledon, in the quarter-finals after Djokovic defeated Tim van Rijthoven, a late-blooming Dutch wildcard entrant, 6-2 4-6 6-1 6-2, on Sunday night.
Despite being seeded 10th at Wimbledon, Sinner had never won a game on grass on the Main Tour until arriving at the All England Club, but it was hard to see why as he navigated the grass and with his Groundstrokes against Alcaraz off-shots generated tremendous punch from all possible heights. Sinner was the more consistent force on Sunday, but he was also often the one to exercise the dictates against one of the most explosive promoters and hitters in men’s football.
Sinner, who had lost his only previous tour-level match against Alcaraz, had him stretch and swing and turned Alcaraz’s service plays into gantlets, repeatedly putting powerful returns at his feet and forcing him to hit half-volleys, while leaning back just to stay in The point.
“For me, Jannik played incredibly well,” said Alcaraz, who was placed fifth.
The resilient Alcaraz was often spectacular (he can’t help himself) but also erratic: repeatedly misfiring on his signature drop shots and failing to convert any of his seven break points, while Sinner conceded four of his 12.