By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday July 9, 2024
Daniil Medvedev handed Jannik Sinner his first loss since becoming No.1 and reached the last four at Wimbledon.
Photo Source: Rob Newell/Camera Sport
According to most pundits, Daniil Medvedev was not considered a threat to win Wimbledon in 2024.
After his 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 victory over top-seeded Jannik Sinner on Centre Court on Tuesday, that sentiment is changing.
Medvedev played one his best ever grass matches and took the play to the 22-year-old as he erased some of the demons from squandering a two sets to love lead against Sinner in this year’s Australian Open final and snapped a personal five-match losing streak against the Italian wunderkind.
It was the first match between Top-5-ranked players at Wimbledon this year, and it was also the 36th five-setter of this year’s Championships, which sets an all-time Open Era record for most five-setters at the majors.
For Medvedev, who had lost five in a row to Sinner since last beating him in Miami in 2023, it was a long time coming. It was also Sinner's first loss as World No.1 - he had won his first nine matches, including the Halle title, since claiming the ATP's top ranking on June 10.
On the flip side, it was a rough day for Sinner, who suffered from fatigue in the opening set and needed a ten-minute assessment off court after three games of the third. Doctors checked his blood pressure and took him off the court. When he returned the Italian needed several games to find his groove, but did just that in the tenth game of the third set.
A resurgent Sinner earned his first break of the day and forced a third-set breaker, but Medvedev, who saved a pair of set points while serving at 5-6 in the set, snapped his nine-match tiebreak winning streak – it was a day of streak-snapping for the Russian.
After Sinner dominated the fourth set on the strength of consecutive breaks, Medvedev turned the tide and dominated the decider. The 28-year-old cracked a backhand winner to end the contest in four hours and one minute, improving to 6-6 lifetime against Sinner and 18-5 at Wimbledon.
“I’m happy still that I managed to stay at a high level,” Medvedev said. “I think it was great points, great match – I’m happy to win, and really happy with my game looking forward.”
Sinner drops to 42-4 on the season, and 6-9 lifetime in five-setters.
Medvedev will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Tommy Paul in the semifinals. He is gaining comfort on Centre Court, where he talked about the importance of winning two matches there this year.
“It’s my first time winning two matches on Centre Court at Wimbledon,” he joked. “Usually I would win either one or zero, so this is a record already!”