“I think what we showed today was a great level of tennis, a great attitude from both of us,” Sinner said. “There are still so many other players playing incredible tennis. We are certainly the two youngest at the moment. So let’s see. I don’t know what will happen in the future. I think it’s great for tennis to have new names, new players.”
It was a highly unusual Wimbledon with No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and his fellow Russians ineligible to play because of the war in Ukraine; the new No. 2, Alexander Zverev of Germany, out after major ankle surgery; and three other top grass-court players – Italy’s Matteo Berretini, Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut – are pulling out after testing positive for the coronavirus.
There were big opportunities in the draw and of the 16 players in the men’s fourth round, only two – Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal – even reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. Sinner will now face Djokovic, the three-time defending Wimbledon champion, in the quarter-finals after Djokovic defeated Tim van Reithoven, a Dutch wild card who has flourished of late, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6 -2 , on Sunday evening.
Despite being seeded 10th at Wimbledon, Sinner had never won a grass-court match on the main tour until arriving at the All England Club, but it was hard to see why as he powered through the grass and generated massive hitting power with your ground kicks against Alcaraz off kicks kicks from different types of heights. Sinner was the more consistent force on Sunday, but he was also often the one dictating against one of the most explosive players and hitters in the men’s game.
Sinner, who had lost his only previous tour-level match against Alcaraz, made him stretch and lunge and turned Alcaraz’s service games into gloves by repeatedly placing strong returns at his feet and forcing him to throw half volleys as he leaning back just to stay on point.
“For me, Yannick played incredibly well,” said Alcaraz, the higher No. 5 seed.
The resilient Alcaraz was often impressive (he can’t hold back) but also erratic: He missed many of his signature drop shots and failed to convert on any of his seven break points, while Sinner cashed in four of his 12.
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