The No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world has been taken out in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Jannik Sinner, who was also seeded No. 1 at the tournament, lost to Daniil Medvedev, who is seeded fifth. Medvedev won 6(7)-7, 6-4, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3. Coming into this match, Medvedev had a 6-5 advantage over Sinner in their head-to-head matches, but Sinner had won their last five meetings. Medvedev finally broke Sinner’s streak.
It was a hard-fought victory for Medvedev. There were no easy moments for either player, but Medvedev is the one who came out on top. He and Sinner were neck and neck throughout the first set, which required a tiebreak to decide the winner. Medvedev appeared to run out of gas during the tiebreak, but he had his revenge in the next set. He started a ruthless winning streak, and Sinner couldn’t dig himself out of the hole.
The third set started out like the second, with Sinner winning the first game and then dropping the next three. But something was off with Sinner. He seemed a little lightheaded and disoriented, and eventually left the court. It didn’t appear to be a called medical timeout, but Sinner was gone for more than five minutes. When he returned, it appeared very little had changed.
Down 5-3 with his back against the wall, Sinner ripped off three straight wins to tie the set at 5-5. At 6-6 they took it to a tiebreak, which Medvedev won relatively easily.
Despite not being able to complete the third-set comeback, Sinner was energized. He mowed down Medvedev in the fourth set 6-2, leaving the entire match riding on the fifth and final set.
Just like most of the match, the deciding set was a battle. But Medvedev got himself on a roll early, leaving Sinner, who appeared to be experiencing some cramping or pain in his calf, in the dust. Sinner had come all the way back from some dangerous looking mid-match wobbles, but couldn’t overcome his own unforced errors or Medvedev’s big serve and patient relentlessness.
Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, is one step closer to defending his 2023 title. He defeated American Tommy Paul 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, taking out the 27-year-old No. 12 seed in three hours and 11 minutes.
Alcaraz’s best tennis comes out when he’s challenged, and Paul definitely challenged him. The first set was a war of attrition, with long volleys leading to long points and even longer games. Paul handled it all with an almost eerie calmness, while Alcaraz struggled somewhat with his serve. Alcaraz led just once in the one hour and 12 minute first set, right at the beginning when he grabbed a 2-1 lead. He spent the rest of the games playing from behind, and couldn’t find enough consistency to overtake Paul.
Alcaraz finally found that consistency midway through the second set. Staring down a 2-0 deficit, he reigned in some of his wildness and went on an impressive streak, winning six of the next eight games and evening the match at one set apiece. He then essentially mowed Paul down in the third set, with Paul winning just two games before Alcaraz racked up six W’s to win the set and take his first lead of the match.
After that, Alcaraz turned up the pressure on Paul. He saw the light of victory at the end of the tunnel and let it fly. Faced with the buzzsaw that is Alcaraz, Paul simply couldn’t keep up. But even at the end, Paul still played well, making impressive shots in just his second-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Now Alcaraz will play Medvedev in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon semifinals. Alcaraz won that battle on the way to his first trophy at the All England Club, and since then is 2-1 against Medvedev. (Though notably, Medvedev’s one win was in the semifinals of the 2023 US Open.) Overall he’s 4-2 against Medvedev, and we’ll see whether or not he can extend that record when they face off Thursday.
