Top seed Jannik Sinner was eliminated from the Wimbledon tournament after losing to Russian Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the quarter-finals.
The No. 5 seed, Medvedev, advances to his second Wimbledon semi-final after winning 6-7 (9-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3. Following his triumph at the US Open in 2021, Medvedev hopes to win his second grand slam.
Sinner rose to the top of the men’s tennis rankings after the French Open and had won his five past matches against Medvedev, which included the Australian Open final earlier this year.
Highlights of the match
The quarter-final match was halted when Sinner looked as if he was about to get sick. The athlete then left the court to have his pulse taken and undergo a medical assessment. The first two sets were split.
Sinner then returned after the timeout and would go on to break back, but Medvedev overcame the third-set tiebreak and had a lead of two sets to one. The No. 1 forced a fifth set, but his opponent gained his momentum back and won the match.
In other related news, current Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz defeated Tommy Paul in four sets and won his 12th consecutive match at the grass-court grand slam. The 21-one-year-old athlete won with an impressive record of 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
After his victory, Alcaraz said: “I had to stay strong mentally at the beginning when I lost the first set… It was kinda difficult for me a little bit but I know it is a really long journey. I am really happy to find the solutions and the good path.”
Jannik Sinner defeated Hubert Hurkacz at the Halle Open to win his first world championship. The athlete won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last January and eventually dethroned Novak Djokovic as he claimed the top of the world rankings last June.
Sinner won 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2) against Hurkacz of Poland, with whom he earlier played doubles in Germany. This win granted him his maiden grass-court championship.
Sinner has only dropped three sets this year, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo and twice to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open and Indian Wells.
What’s next for Sinner?
Sinner will start as the top seed at Wimbledon in an attempt to improve on his 2018 semi-final competition performance.
As the tournament is about to commence, Sinner admitted: “I’m just looking forward to Wimbledon. Last year I made the semis, I played some good tennis, so let’s see what’s coming this year… I’m more confident for sure. Obviously, the grass might be a bit different from here and Wimbledon.”
He added: “But I have one week now to prepare, so hopefully it’s going to be a good tournament.”
In other related news, Tommy Paul defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) to win the biggest title in his career to date at Queen’s.
With the win, the American also rose to the top of his nation’s men’s tennis rankings. He is now 12th in the world rankings.
Jannik Sinner had little to celebrate even after a sensational first-time victory over Mackenzie McDonald at the Paris Masters this week. His match had begun shortly before midnight and continued until half past two a.m., leaving him exhausted.
Sinner withdraws from event
The Italian player was fresh off his Erste Bank Open victory when he landed in the city of lights. And after his impressive run of form over the past few weeks, including his stunning win over his nemesis, World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, in Beijing and Vienna, respectively, people were wondering how he’d fare in the Paris Masters.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Sinner was forced to make a decision after a late-night match victory that left him drained.
Sinner started his match after midnight and finished it at 2:37 AM, recording scores 6-7 7-5 6-1 to prevail over American player McDonald in Round 32 of the Masters 1000 event.
A late-night game was one thing for Sinner, but to play just 14 hours later was another. And this was what prompted Sinner to mull things over.
There were high stakes in the competition, and he had a shot at progressing through the next rounds. But with such short turn-around time, his body, in the process, will most definitely get destroyed.
Opting to prioritize his health, Sinner decided that it would be best to withdraw from the event. He announced his decision on his social media X, saying, “I am sorry to announce that I am withdrawing from today’s match in Bercy. I finished the match when it was almost three in the morning and didn’t go to bed until a few hours later. I had less than 12 hours rest to prepare for the next game.”
“I have to make the right decision for my health and my body,” Sinner said in his post. “The weeks ahead with the ATP Finals at home and the Davis Cup will be very important, now I focus on preparing for these important events. See you in Turin.”
Sono dispiaciuto di annunciare che mi ritiro della partita di oggi a Bercy. Ho finito il match quando erano quasi le 3 del mattino e sono andato a letto solo qualche ora più tardi. Avevo meno di 12 ore per riposarmi e preparare la prossima partita.
The ATP Tour also announced his withdrawal on X, writing: “Next stop: Turin. Following his late finish in his win against McDonald last night, @janniksin has withdrawn from the #RolexParisMasters.
Apparently, Sinner wasn’t the only one who was faced with the dilemma, as Djokovic was also just given a small window of time to recover from his previous game: 14.5 hours.
Enraged at ATP’s scheduling that forced Sinner out, the tennis fans rallied on social media and expressed their worries over the players.
One fan showed a timeline of Sinner’s schedule at the event and captioned it, “Tournament not up to par, poorly planned, players’ physical health not guaranteed. ATP, what are you for?”
Tournament not up to par, poorly planned, players' physical health not guaranteed.
While another fan stated, “What a sad state of affairs for the sport when one of your top players has to withdraw because of poor scheduling. Tennis does itself no favours & it’s organisation is to blame. If you want to bring people to the sport, this is NOT the way to do it! This is a shambles & shameful.”
What a sad state of affairs for the sport when one of your top players has to withdraw because of poor scheduling. Tennis does itself no favours & it's organisation is to blame. If you want to bring people to the sport, this is NOT the way to do it! This is a shambles & shameful.
Norwegian tennis player Casper Rudd also took a shot at the ATP for putting Djokovic in a tough position and said, “Bravo @atptour👏👏 way to help one of the best players in the world recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 am this morning👍👍 14,5 hours to recover.. what a joke🤦
Bravo @atptour 👏👏 way to help one of the best players in the world recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 am this morning👍👍 14,5 hours to recover.. what a joke🤦 https://t.co/X5GsgY7scj
After easily winning against Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, youngster Carlos Alcaraz will now battle Jannik Sinner in the China Open championship match.
The current world no. 3 from Spain has won with a performance record of 7-5 6-3 in a total of 88 minutes over Medvedev, who had two medical timeouts to treat his damaged left leg. This is Alcaraz’s eighth straight win since he was defeated by Botic van de Zandschulp in the US Open second round.
Moreover, the defending champion and world no. 1 Sinner has won against Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete with a final score of 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in order to advance to the final round. The Italian athlete is playing in Beijing despite the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) declaration that it will be appealing the decision to absolve him of any responsibility after being positive twice for prohibited substances.
WADA declared that the independent tribunal’s decision which concluded that Sinner was not at fault was unfortunately “not correct under the applicable rules.” They further added that he should be suspended between one and two years, as part of their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Sinner admitted that the issue has been giving help restless nights, but his recent victory over the Chinese world number 96 athlete marked his 15th straight victory, and therefore sets up his tenth encounter with Alcaraz.
Sinner said: “It’s going to be a tough match… We know each other very well but every match is different. I’m happy to be in the final.”
For the last two weeks, spectators have twice seen Sixth seed Jannik Sinner struggle during his matches at the ATP 500 in Beijing, China.
The first time this happened was when Sinner slipped and fell while attempting to return a serve by British player Dan Evans on September 29. The 22-year-old then clutched his thigh in pain and sought medical attention mid-game. Evans, who appeared irritated by the unexpected disruption, later mocked Sinner by imitating him. In a playful manner, Evans also gripped his thigh during the changeover.
This time, however, Sinner was seen to be vomiting in a wheelie bin during his quarter-final match on October 2.
Sinner vs Dimitrov
In the final match on Monday, the young Italian player faced off against Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov. The first two sets were won alternately by Sinner and Dimitrov, with Sinner winning the first set 6-4 and Dimitrov winning the second set 6-3.
In the third set, Sinner had taken the lead in the match with 3-0. And then, during the changeover, Sinner, who had felt unwell throughout the match, vomited to a wheelie bin near his bench.
Nonetheless, Sinner continued to compete in the prestigious event and powered through the match, battling his physical condition with his determination to defeat Dimitrov. Sinner demonstrated his athletic prowess in the final moments of the match and eventually won with a score of 6-2, immediately throwing his right hand in the air in celebration.
With a 6-4,3-6,6-2 victory, Sinner was declared the winner and will now progress to the semi final, where he is set to take on the world No. 2 Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz.
Throwing Up
In his post-match interview, Sinner revealed the cause of his ‘throwing up’ incident:
“It was a very difficult evening, the level of the match was very high. At one point, I didn’t feel well, maybe I ate poorly, so I vomited. In any case, I am happy with the way I managed the match, especially in the third set.”, Sinner said, per First Sportz.
Tennis World USA also reported this incident on their X, saying:
Jannik Sinner vomits on the court in Beijing! WATCH: Health problems for the Italian during the match against Grigor Dimitrov #ATPTennis #GrigorDimitrov #JannikSinner
When all was said and done at the Vienna Open, the two fierce rivals on court were left to their own devices and celebrated, surprisingly, by dousing one another in champagne.
Rivalry between Medvedev and Sinner
Next to the top 2 tennis players in the world, Djokovic and Alcaraz, world No. 3 Medvedev and world No. 4 Sinner are well on their way to emerge as another popular rivalry on court.
The match between Medvedev and Sinner, which took place in the final of the Vienna Open, marked the eighth time the two players had faced each other on court in their careers. And just last month, Medvedev won all six of their encounters 6-0.
But this October, Sinner quickly turned the tables and broke his losing streak for the first time against his Russian foe. He won in the China Open final 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) and even joked during his speech, “Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match.” And he continued this streak onto the Vienna Open final and prevailed once again over Medvedev with 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3.
Odds against Sinner
For the second time this month, spectators have witnessed Medvedev’s and Sinner’s names paired together in the final.
According to lastwordonsports.com, the odds were slightly skewed in favor of Medvedev, who had won six of their prior matches and was better suited to play on Vienna’s medium-speed courts. But that doesn’t rule Sinner out, especially since he received a mental lift from defeating him in their last match in Beijing.
Sinner: It took a lot of mental and physical strength
Despite the odds against him and his foe’s undeniable strength, Sinner powered through the match, winning the first 7-6(7) and third 6-3 sets.
With this victory, Sinner now ties with Medvedev in terms of wins in their finals showdown, with Medvedev winning the Rotterdam and Miami finals and Sinner clinching the Beijing and Vienna finals.
In a post-match interview, Sinner stated that defeating Medvedev required a lot of mental and physical effort.
Via The Tennis Letter on X: ““It took a lot of mental & physical strength. To finish the match, it was a really mental thing. For sure in the top 3 or top 5 matches I’ve played in my life. Playing finals is always special. Especially against Daniil where I lost so many times. The last time I won gave me confidence. Today was completely different than last time. I made more serve and volleys there. Today I had to adapt. I’m happy with how I handled the situation. A very, very good match today.” 🇮🇹❤️”
Jannik Sinner after beating Daniil Medvedev to win his 10th ATP title:
“It took a lot of mental & physical strength. To finish the match, it was a really mental thing. For sure in the top 3 or top 5 matches I’ve played in my life. Playing finals is always special. Especially… pic.twitter.com/iRjUXfXnp3
