Ruthless Medvedev knocks out ailing top seed Sinner

Rule out Daniil Medvedev at your peril.

- KIERAN JACKSON

That was the message sent to the rest of the draw by the freakishly outlandish but effective world number five, who ripped up the formbook on quarter-finals day at Wimbledon. Sure, Jannik Sinner was under the weather, far from oneself, but the level throughout remained high and it was Medvedev who held his nerve.

For two intoxicating sets of full-throttle baseline tennis, there was little to choose between these two. But then it was the Italian– six years younger at 22 – whose health deteriorated on tennis’ biggest stage. The world No 1 left the court for 10 minutes but this was no injury. As a doctor checked his pulse and blood pressure, Sinner looked a man absolutely spent, his face white and movement unusually dawdle.

But he returned, a second wave came and as the adrenaline kicked in, the momentum swung back and forth. Sinner, commendably, stretched it to five sets. But after a sludging contest of exactly four hours, it was Medvedev who emerged victorious, sealing a berth in the Wimbledon semi-finals – with a 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 win – for the second straight year where, again, he will meet Carlos Alcaraz.

“I felt at one moment he wasn’t feeling good but I knew it could get away,” Medvedev said on-court.

“It was actually very tough. One moment I can feel he doesn’t move that well but it’s tricky, you want to play more points to make him suffer but then he goes full power. In a way I’d rather not have this situation. But everything is well when it ends well.”

Medvedev led the head-to-head 6-5 coming into this one but, astonishingly, Sinner had won their past five meetings – including January’s terrific Australian Open final, when Sinner claimed his first Grand Slam with a thrilling win from two sets to love down. In that match, the Italian looked broken, mouthing “Sono morto” (I’m dead) to his box, before somehow launching a stirring fightback. At SW19, he looked altogether more weary.