Daniil Medvedev has reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon for the second consecutive year after an impressive win over world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
The Russian tennis star was on a five-match losing streak to Sinner dating back to the Miami Masters last year.
He lost to the Italian star in a tight Australian Open final just a few months ago and was thrashed in Miami as Sinner went on to win the title.
The world No 1 entered Wimbledon as the strong favourite to win this year’s British slam with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic carrying fitness issues.
Jannik Sinner has been knocked out of Wimbledon
REUTERS
Fellow top-10 seeds such as Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev also suffered early exits at Wimbledon to open up the draw for Sinner.
But Medvedev was always going to be Sinner’s toughest test with the No 5 seed finding his groove on grass in recent years.
There was barely anything to separate them after two sets with both looking on top of their game.
But there was concern for Sinner in the third set when he was visited by the physio on court and had his pulse taken.
The Italian walked off the court to be further assessed before returning and managed to battle back to force a tiebreak.
However, one error from Sinner on serve was enough for Medvedev to take the crucial third set.
Whatever was troubling Sinner soon disappeared in the fourth as he hit just three unforced errors with a near-perfect service record to force a deciding set.
Medvedev has been accused of dropping his head against some of the top seeds previously after coming so close to victory.
Daniil Medvedev reached the semi-finals last year
REUTERS
But it was Sinner who was struggling to find top form in the fifth set and he appeared to be suffering with a hamstring issue.
Medvedev showed no mercy on the other side of the net and got the crucial break in the fourth game before eventually serving out for the match to bring the four-hour classic to an end.
“I knew to beat Jannik it would be a tough match,” he said.
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Jannik Sinner was seen as the favourite
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“He’s not a guy you can beat easy. I’m happy that I managed to stay at a high level and I’m happy with my game.”
He added: “It’s my first time winning two matches on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
“Usually I would either win one or zero so this is a record already.”
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