Medvedev outlasts Sinner to reach Wimbledon semifinal
It snapped Medvedev’s five-match losing sequence to Sinner and avenged his bitter defeat by the Italian in 2024
09 July 2024 - 19:26
byMARTYN HERMAN
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Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates after winning his quarter final match against Italy's Jannik Sinner. Picture: REUTERS/Paul Childs
London — Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev edged out world No1 Jannik Sinner in a grinding five-set battle to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the second successive year on Tuesday.
A strange match full of momentum shifts and lulls was absorbing rather than gripping but Medvedev did not care as he triumphed 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 on a covered Centre Court.
It snapped Medvedev’s five-match losing sequence to Sinner and avenged his bitter defeat by the Italian in the 2024 Australian Open final when he squandered a two-set lead.
Top seed Sinner won the opening set in a tight tiebreak after saving a set point but mistakes began to creep into his game and after losing the second set he needed treatment off the court early in the third after apparently feeling ill.
Despite losing the third-set tiebreak, Sinner was rejuvenated in the fourth and sent the match into a decider.
Russian Medvedev got the early break though and held firm to win in four hours.
Lula Sun's extraordinary Wimbledon journey ground to a halt in the quarterfinals as New Zealand’s 123rd-ranked qualifier was beaten 5-7 6-4 6-1 by experienced Croatian Donna Vekic.
Victory meant Vekic reached her maiden Grand Slam semifinal and became only the second woman from her nation to do so at the All England Club, as she matched Mirjana Lucic’s 1999 feat, but it was not all smooth sailing for the unseeded 28-year-old.
Sun saved three breakpoints under the Court One roof and broke for a crucial 6-5 advantage before digging herself out of a hole again to seize the opening set on serve with the most delicate of drop shots.
The Te Anau-born left-hander surrendered her serve in the eighth game of the next set before Vekic made a flurry of double faults while serving for the set, only to regain her composure and draw level in the match with another break.
The match turned on its head when Vekic broke in the third set following a double fault from Sun's racket, and the former Australian Open and US Open quarterfinalist quickly pulled away for a 5-0 lead.
She duly settled the contest on serve to dash Sun's hopes of becoming the first female qualifier to make the Wimbledon semifinals since American Alexandra Stevenson 25 years ago.
The Wimbledon mixed doubles final originally scheduled for Thursday will be played three days later, organisers said yesterday, as they revised the schedule due to steady rain that has caused a backlog on the All England Club outside courts.
Though the action has continued under the roofs on Centre Court and Court One, several first-round mixed doubles matches have not been finished due to wet weather on the opening eight days at the grass court Grand Slam.
The mixed doubles final will follow the men’s singles final on Sunday, while the men's and women's doubles finals will take place after the women’s singles final on Saturday.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Medvedev outlasts Sinner to reach Wimbledon semifinal
It snapped Medvedev’s five-match losing sequence to Sinner and avenged his bitter defeat by the Italian in 2024
London — Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev edged out world No1 Jannik Sinner in a grinding five-set battle to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the second successive year on Tuesday.
A strange match full of momentum shifts and lulls was absorbing rather than gripping but Medvedev did not care as he triumphed 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 on a covered Centre Court.
It snapped Medvedev’s five-match losing sequence to Sinner and avenged his bitter defeat by the Italian in the 2024 Australian Open final when he squandered a two-set lead.
Top seed Sinner won the opening set in a tight tiebreak after saving a set point but mistakes began to creep into his game and after losing the second set he needed treatment off the court early in the third after apparently feeling ill.
Despite losing the third-set tiebreak, Sinner was rejuvenated in the fourth and sent the match into a decider.
Russian Medvedev got the early break though and held firm to win in four hours.
Lula Sun's extraordinary Wimbledon journey ground to a halt in the quarterfinals as New Zealand’s 123rd-ranked qualifier was beaten 5-7 6-4 6-1 by experienced Croatian Donna Vekic.
Victory meant Vekic reached her maiden Grand Slam semifinal and became only the second woman from her nation to do so at the All England Club, as she matched Mirjana Lucic’s 1999 feat, but it was not all smooth sailing for the unseeded 28-year-old.
Sun saved three breakpoints under the Court One roof and broke for a crucial 6-5 advantage before digging herself out of a hole again to seize the opening set on serve with the most delicate of drop shots.
The Te Anau-born left-hander surrendered her serve in the eighth game of the next set before Vekic made a flurry of double faults while serving for the set, only to regain her composure and draw level in the match with another break.
The match turned on its head when Vekic broke in the third set following a double fault from Sun's racket, and the former Australian Open and US Open quarterfinalist quickly pulled away for a 5-0 lead.
She duly settled the contest on serve to dash Sun's hopes of becoming the first female qualifier to make the Wimbledon semifinals since American Alexandra Stevenson 25 years ago.
The Wimbledon mixed doubles final originally scheduled for Thursday will be played three days later, organisers said yesterday, as they revised the schedule due to steady rain that has caused a backlog on the All England Club outside courts.
Though the action has continued under the roofs on Centre Court and Court One, several first-round mixed doubles matches have not been finished due to wet weather on the opening eight days at the grass court Grand Slam.
The mixed doubles final will follow the men’s singles final on Sunday, while the men's and women's doubles finals will take place after the women’s singles final on Saturday.
Reuters
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