Jannik Sinner moved to within two wins of successfully defending his Wimbledon title on Tuesday, beating Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 on No. 1 Court to reach the semi finals.
The world No. 1 may not have produced his most dazzling tennis against Struff’s dangerous game, but he proved too strong for the 36 year old across two hours and 35 minutes, sealing his place in a 10th Grand Slam semi final and ending the run of a player who had become the oldest first time major quarter finalist of the Open Era.
After dropping the opening set and falling an early break behind in the second, Struff raised his aggression, using his heavy forehand and well timed net approaches to unsettle Sinner. The world No. 74 broke back and continued to apply pressure, earning a set point at 5-4, 30/40. Sinner responded with composure, escaping danger with three emphatic deliveries, two unreturned serves either side of an ace, before going on to win the tie break 7-4 and take control of the third set.
“He’s a very, very tough player to play against, but he deserves everything he has done and achieved in his career,” Sinner said on court afterwards. “In the beginning, I felt like he started better than me. I was struggling a little bit, but then I tried to get into the match. I started to serve a little bit better, very happy to be back in the semi finals here.”
Reflecting on the pivotal second set tie break, Sinner added: “I was a break up in the second set, couldn’t use it, but tried to stay there mentally. The tiebreak is always 50-50, so if you are two sets to love up, it makes a big change.”
Sinner improved his record at the All England Club to 25-4 and has now won 12 consecutive sets since needing five to see off Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round. The win also continues his recovery from a shock second round exit to Juan Manuel Cerundolo at Roland Garros, which ended a 30 match winning streak that included a Career Golden Masters.
Struff, ranked 74th in the world, climbed 34 places to No. 40 in the live rankings after a run that included five set victories over Sebastian Baez and Brandon Nakashima, a straight sets upset of eighth seed Daniil Medvedev, and a fourth round win when Hubert Hurkacz retired.
Sinner will next face the winner of Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in Sunday’s final.
